The Destruction of Ranma Saotome - Ignition
by SkyStrider
Summary: Nodoka has learned of Genma's fiancée scams and has decided that she, not Ranma, must pay the price of Honor. Kasumi has a plan to intercede, but she must also deal an Oracle pronouncing the doom of Ranma Saotome. Meanwhile, Ranma is stuck in the Cat Fist and in his female form courtesy of Genma. Oh, did I mention there's a new federal judge in town? Just another day in Nerima...
1. Henna

The usual disclaimer: Ranma ½ is a trademark of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ Communications, and its characters have been borrowed without permission. This story was written for non-commercial purposes only.

This story is part of the Bindings ("Kasumi's Fate") continuum. Since we are returning to the main plot line involving Henna, it will be helpful if you have read "Kasumi's Fate" and "Brothers", but not 100% necessary – there will be the usual helpful footnotes. You do need to know a few things:

1) Henna was Kasumi's initial antagonist in "Kasumi's Fate". She's an ancient Amazon (way older than Cologne). While she is an Amazon Elder, she also keeps herself separate from the others.

2) Tofu's back and has proposed to Kasumi. Our intelligent doctor is really showing his stuff lately, including his ability as a mage (among other things). Oh, did I mention he is part-Kitsune?

3) Kasumi has given up playing the dutiful daughter (sort of) and become the Matriarch once more (slight changes to her character). She has accepted Dr. Tofu's proposal.

4) Akane and Ranma are actually growing up now (not there yet though). They are dating steadily now and are happy with their relationship.

5) Nodoka has sought help from Tofu for a mental illness. The treatment has been rather successful.

6) Genma is no longer Ranma's teacher as Ranma defeated him in an Anything Goes challenge. Ranma is considered a Master, but he now has many other teachers to continue his studies (you never really stop). See "Genma's Job" for more info.

7) Nabiki is now at college in another Ward of Tokyo. She makes a point of coming home on weekends.

8) Mrs. Chie Shimizu is Dr. Tofu's office manager. This middle-age woman is a good friend of Kasumi and one of the biggest gossips in Nerima.

9) Shizuka Jouda is Kasumi's Tai Chi instructor. She's a tough and implacable warrior who loves children, especially the children of her deceased rival and best friend, Kimiko Tendo (even if the "children" are getting up there in years). She's been involved in Kasumi's life off-stage for nearly a decade now.

10) Hideo Jouda is Shizuka's husband. He runs a florist shop in the same building as her dojo. He's a tall, good natured man, with endless patience – especially for his stubborn wife. He's also a very talented mage as well.

11) Dr. Isamu Ando is a doctor who works for Dr. Tofu. He's the doctor who takes over when Tofu is on the road. A bright man with a lot to learn about people – and an arrogant streak that just begs for a beating.

12) Yuka, Sayuri, Daisuke, and Hiroshi also have personalities now. Yuka and Hiroshi are dating.

You can also check my profile for other comments.

To help save my sanity, the story will be broken into three pieces: "Ignition", "Combustion", and "Detonation". Don't let the titles worry you too much (I have my reasons) – it's not "Ranma ½" without Ranma…

* * *

Chapter 1: Henna

Kasumi settled into the warm bath and tried to get rid of the light-headedness that had been with her all day. She wondered if she was coming down with something, but it didn't feel quite right. She had no fever, no stuffiness, and no bloating – just the light-headedness. She laid back into the water and tried to relax…

* * *

Kasumi found herself striding naked in the darkness following a woman wrapped in a long black cloak. The woman was leaning on a black staff and using it to feel out the path in front of her in the darkness. Kasumi felt no cold though, and could see the path clearly. Her feet felt like they were not even touching the path. Kasumi looked behind her and saw the lights of a village receding in the distance. The woman in front of her looked agitated. Once, the woman looked behind her, checking where she was in relationship to the village, but she didn't see Kasumi. Kasumi could see her face despite the darkness and the hood over her head. The face was mature, but sported not a wrinkle or blemish. The hair under the hood was pure black except for what seemed to be a lone streak of white. Otherwise, the woman looked to be no older than thirty.

The woman and her unseen companion turned a corner in the path and the village was lost to the darkness. She walked a little further down the path and then stopped to stare at the stars. Suddenly, she wailed out a yell of such anger and frustration that Kasumi stumbled back in surprise:

"AAHHHHHHHRRRGGGHHHH!"

The woman turned and raised her hand toward a barren tree. A blast of energy blew the tree to splinters. Kasumi noted that several other splintered stumps dotted the path. The woman began yelling again: "What is this child?! Is he a Kami in disguise?! A re-born warrior out of legend?! Is this how the bitch is such a danger to me?" The woman struck a boulder along the path only to have it shatter.

There was a flurry of curses before the next few words were understandable. "How could he beat a Phoenix?!" the woman yelled at the stars. More cursing followed. "He could have wrecked everything if he followed through and killed Saffron properly!" The volume dropped as the woman continued: "Thank the gods that foolish girl somehow survived to distract him!"

The woman was silent for a few minutes as she seem to pull herself together again. Then Kasumi heard her muttering to herself: "Ranma must either be destroyed (if that is even possible), or matters must be set so that he will never return to China. I have to keep him away." After another minute or so, she continued with a grump: "Hmph. The latter is probably safer to arrange. Get the Tendo girl pregnant with his child – he will never leave her side again, and she will certainly have no desire to go to China." Then she laughed: "Actually, that probably is the best way to nullify Ranma. Give him a stormy little wife to keep him busy. He may very well enjoy his servitude given his contrary nature. I need to make sure Ranma continues to believe that there is no cure at Jusenkyo too." (2) She paused again. "Yes," she muttered. "That may just do..."

The woman stood silent for a moment, then sighed and continued down the path with Kasumi following her invisibly. Kasumi's thoughts were racing, and a suspicion was growing in her mind, but the suspicion was producing more questions than answers. Shortly, the path began to rise across a cliff face up into the darkness. The pair climbed silently until they turned a corner and Kasumi could see they had just turned into a large cleft in the cliff face. At the backside of the cleft, there was a large house cut halfway up the cliff side. The path to the house became lit about half way between the bend they just turned and the cleft's back. The house was cut into the cliff so that anyone on the path was visible to the house. There was no way to surprise the house's occupants. The stone house itself looked to be set up as three tiers, with lights on in various rooms. The house itself seemed to have no back, but was welded into the cliff face. The cliff face overshadowed the house so that it would be difficult to see the house from the top of the cliff, especially as the viewer drew directly above the house.

As Kasumi followed the woman up to the house, she saw the lady step through a ward and watch it slide smoothly over her. Kasumi stepped up to the ward and stopped. "Will the ward let me through?" she questioned to herself. Kasumi pushed her hand into the cliff face with little effort. "I'm not physically here, so it might. One way to find out…" she thought. She reached out and touched the ward, looking for any reaction. The ward did not fight her and slid over her hand cleanly. Kasumi looked at the woman who did not react to the intrusion, and then slipped the rest of herself through the ward. She ran to catch up to the woman.

The woman approached the door and Kasumi saw a spirit guard open the door for her. The spirit was dressed as a warrior, but had these large cuts running down his armor (and chest). He glowered at the woman, but she ignored him. The spirit then looked at Kasumi in surprise, and glanced at the woman. Noting that the woman ignored both him and Kasumi, the spirit motioned for Kasumi to enter, so she did. As she passed, the ghost touched her shoulder. The word "Caution" flashed into her mind. Kasumi turned to the guard and nodded. The guard returned her gesture.

As Kasumi entered the foyer of the house, she saw that the woman had hung up her cloak and was smiling at herself in the mirror. The woman was very beautiful, with the white streak in her hair only serving to accent her further. But, it was a cold sort of beauty, like a snow flake or an ice sculpture. Kasumi saw no compassion in those features. The woman looked at herself for at least ten minutes before she called out "Talcum" and a sorrowful creature appeared at one of the foyer's doorways. It looked like a dried out and wrinkle old woman. It was wrapped in a sackcloth robe, but the hood was down showing a desiccated face. Kasumi was sure it was some type of zombie. The woman told the little creature to make some tea and draw a bath for her.

The woman walked into a sitting room and Kasumi followed. The sitting room was more like a throne room, with a large ornate overstuffed chair that the woman sat in. Before her were three small ornate wooden chairs, obviously for petitioners. Around the room were various bookshelves filled with volumes written in all languages. Kasumi looked at the titles, but did not try to move anything. As an experiment, Kasumi pushed at the walls, only to have them resist her as if she was physical. Kasumi now knew she must be careful.

The zombie brought in a cup of herbal tea and the white-streaked woman seemed to meditate for about five minutes, but eventually rose with a frustrated face. Kasumi followed her down a long flight of stone stairs into a huge open bathroom. The bathroom was made completely of marble of three different types (rose, black, and white). There were fountains running everywhere in the bathroom and their noise provided a soothing backdrop. The center of the room was dominated by a large bathtub, at least three meters in diameter. The woman stripped and studied her form in the mirror for a few moments. Like her face, the woman's body was absolutely flawless. The woman sighed and went to her bath, allowing herself to sink into the bubbles. She looked across the bathroom at Kasumi, but seemed to be looking through Kasumi. Miss Tendo quickly moved away and turned to look at what the woman was watching. There was a large water tank with a glass front mounted flush in the wall. The tank started about half-a-meter above the floor and ran to the ceiling. The front of the tank was at least five meters wide, but the tank was filled with murky green water so Kasumi could not see anything further.

"Sprite!" The woman called out.

"Yes, Henna?" a voice sounded from the vicinity of the tank. Kasumi nodded to herself as her suspicions were confirmed. She studied the face of her enemy a little closer.

Henna spoke: "The Amazon Council is about to give up on Ranma and allow Xian Pu to return home."

"Yes, Henna. I am aware," the feminine voice responded matter-of-factly.

"And Ranma Saotome has destroyed the Phoenix King," Henna called from her bath.

"Henna," the voice said with heavy exasperation. "I really don't feel like being punished now. Please don't test me like that. You know very well the Phoenix King lives, at least what's left of him." (1)

Henna's face became confused. After a few moments, it hardened. Henna demanded "Sprite! I command you to show yourself."

"No, Henna. Please leave me what's left of my dignity," the voice said tiredly.

"You have no dignity left!" Henna snapped. "Show yourself to me!"

"No," the quiet voice said.

"Fine then. Suffer the consequences!" Henna raised her hand and power crackled from her finger tips. The energy leapt into the large tank, startling Kasumi. Henna started to smile as she heard the Sprite give a high pitched scream. The smile was quickly lost as Henna's own scream of pain tore out of her throat. "AHHHH!"

Henna shot out of the bath and stood not far from Kasumi. Henna was covered head to toe in painful blood blisters. She stared at herself in total confusion. Kasumi heard the Sprite thrashing in the wall tank. It slowly stopped, and then a bitter laugh began to fill the bathroom. "Oh Henna! You are so predictable. It's no wonder your enemies have no issues side-stepping you."

"What…what have you done to me?" Henna asked in disbelief.

"Done to you?" hissed the Sprite maliciously, and then broke out in a laugh. "There's nothing I can do to you; you've seen to that too well. You issued a Binding more complete than I could ever imagine, and used my immortality for your own purposes. Well, guess what? It's over. I'm dying."

"WHAT?!" screamed the Amazon in disbelief. "You *CAN'T* die."

"Of course I can, Henna. Everything that exists under the Sun dies, even my kind. I was suppose to live much longer, but I was foolish. I allowed myself to become close to a local tribe and let them into my confidences. Then one of them took my secrets and betrayed me. She cut me off from my source of power and then harnessed that power for her own purposes. Sound familiar Henna?"

"Your siblings would never let you die!" Henna screamed.

"My siblings have died, Henna." the Sprite said in an emotionless tone. "Go ahead. Go confirm that I'm telling you the truth. Then know that you enabled this to happen. You used me to weaken each of them and then Bound them as you Bound me, drawing on their power to keep me alive as you drained me daily. Well, that's over too. There's no one around to replenish me anymore. Once you use up my power, whether by draining it from me or hurting me, it's gone for good."

"No! You're lying!" Henna shouted.

There was movement in the tank and a face appeared on the other side of the glass. It was a little larger than Henna's face. "Look at me Henna," it commanded. "Look at me and tell me if I'm lying."

Kasumi saw a face that appeared to be about fifty years old. She could tell that the face had once been very beautiful, despite the blood blisters that now covered it. The Sprite had flowing green hair, but the hair looked like it was starting to thin and showed large streaks of gray throughout it. Through the murky water, Kasumi could see breasts that had once been very full, but were now shrinking with age. Henna shrunk back in horror.

"Enjoy the sight Henna?" the Sprite mocked. "Soon, very soon, you'll see it in the mirror. Your body is over nine hundred years old – Do you know how much power it takes to maintain it? Plus, your servants, your tells, your wards, and your other magics?"

"NO!" Henna said, no longer doubting the Sprite's words. "I'll find a way around this!"

"Will you Henna?" the Sprite said "There's no help for you at Jusenkyo and you are beyond the Tears of the Hermaphrodite. Not even the Psychic's Curse will aid you."

A wild look entered Henna's eyes. "There's time. If I cut down the drain on you, I can stretch out your time. I can make you last twenty to thirty years." Henna pulled herself together at that thought. "Yes, there's time to find another way."

The Sprite began laughing again. "Oh, yes. I'm sure if you had twenty to thirty years, you'd figure out a way. Bathe in the blood of a couple of villages, make some deals with a few dozen devils, so on and so forth. You're a true fairy tale villain; you know that, don't you? But you don't have the time. In thirteen moon cycles, it will be all over for me – and for you.

"What are you talking about, worm?" Henna asked, her disdain back in place.

"You don't listen very well, do you, decrepit witch?" replied the Sprite, matching Henna's tone. "My siblings are dead. How do you think that happened? They were still connected to their power bases, just held in your thrall to keep me alive. But they have *died*. Someone killed them, and that someone will come for me as well."

The disdain on Henna's face began to fade again. "Who has the power to slay one of you?"

"Actually, it's not a matter of power, just knowledge and opportunity – something you should be familiar with old hag," the Sprite said snidely. "Take a child and, using an ancient ritual, consecrate the child to the Balance. Baptize the child three times with sacred water, and then slay the child in the presence of the targeted Spirit. Upon the child's death, the Spirit will be unbound and lose its place in this world."

"And someone has done this to your siblings?" Henna pressed.

"Oh yes." The Sprite answered. "Both my Brothers and my Sister have been swept from this world. My turn is coming. Already, the child has been selected and consecrated twice. It will be soon – very soon. "

"Who is doing this? I order you to tell me, Sprite!" Henna commanded.

"Or what?" the Sprite mocked. "You'll punish me? Go right ahead – let's see if you age with me this time. I may hate pain, but I don't fear Death like you do, Henna."

Kasumi saw that Henna had to restrain her temper before continuing: "None the less, bitch, you are under my Binding, and you will serve as my Oracle. So answer the question!"

The Sprite sunk a little in the tank and sulked, "Fine," it stated, and then looked at Henna darkly. "The person is heavily warded and I cannot see her face. She knows about my powers, and about yours. She's ready for you now, and soon she'll be ready for me."

Henna pounced on the wording immediately. "So it's a *she*, is it?"

The Sprite looked thoughtful for a second. "Yes, it is a female," it confirmed.

"Or maybe a part time woman…one who seems very adept despite his/her upbringing," Henna thought out loud. Focusing on her Oracle again, she spoke sharply, "Sprite! Could it be Ranma Saotome?"

The Sprite sneered at her. "You are dense, old crone. Ranma Saotome? Kill a child? Have you learned nothing about the boy-girl? Besides, Ranma Saotome's time is running short."

The comment caught Henna by surprise. "What? What do you mean it's running short?"

The Sprite rolled its eyes at the question and answered, "Just what it means, hag – Within two moons, Ranma Saotome will be no more. The destruction will be so complete, by autumn's end, you won't even find a birth certificate for the boy." It then went on gleefully, "Just think, by the end of winter, Xian Pu could be back with the tribe, her onus abated completely."

Henna sucked in a breath at the taunt. "So, creature, with all this going on, is Xian Pu even a threat to my power anymore?"

"Oh, yes. Beyond a doubt, Xian Pu is still the greatest threat to your power. Too bad the Binding will not let you kill an Amazon. She is destined to replace you completely at the Amazon Council. The Council won't remember your name in a couple of hundred years, but Xian Pu's name will be memorialized as long as an Amazon walks the earth." The Sprite savored that pronouncement and then went on. "But, Henna dearest, forget your power – it is your very life you should be asking about. In thirteen moons, I'll be gone and you with me I imagine." It rolled onto its back and fluttered its eyes at Henna. "Don't you want to save your faithful servant?"

"I care only about my power, slave," Henna answered coldly. "With power, I can preserve my life even without you." With that, she stormed from the room.

The Sprite righted itself and watched Henna leave the bathroom, no doubt to get some ointment for her blood blisters. Then it lay on the bottom of its tank, folded its arms, and carefully laid its head in its arms. "You are such a fool, Henna," it thought out loud. "Throw you a few red herrings, and you forget all about the big picture. You never ask the right questions, even though I prompt you to." It chuckled to itself then. "Of course, if I thought my prompts might work, I'd never make them. I said I couldn't see my killer's face, but you didn't ask why. You never pressed me for the killer's name. And while Xian Pu, my precious red herring, is indeed the biggest threat to your power, she's not the biggest threat to your life." It sighed then. "I miss you my dear siblings, but at least we will be re-united soon." And with those spoken words, the Sprite allowed itself to sink to the bottom of the tank and close its eyes.

* * *

Kasumi started towards the stairs to follow Henna, her mind awhirl with questions. At her movement, the Sprite looked up with a start and stared straight at Kasumi. "Who are you?" Kasumi mouth was clamped shut in surprise. The Sprite roused itself and moved forward, sliding straight *through* the glass as if it wasn't there. The head stayed level with Kasumi as she backed away from the spirit. The Sprite drifted toward Kasumi, its long hair floating through the air as if the creature was still in water. As more and more of the Sprite slid free of the tank, Kasumi could see that the creature resembled a mermaid, except that the tail was more eel-like and very long. Impossibly, the coils of the tail began to fill the room, and blocked the entrance to the bathroom.

Kasumi's eyes widened as she realized her path of escape was block. The blistered face of the Sprite smiled at her with hunger and spoke: "Now, now, I can't have you running away, can I? You heard some things I'd rather keep quiet after all. What are you and how come I didn't notice you before?"

The eldest Tendo daughter backed away until she felt the far wall press against her. The Sprite flowed up to her with the same hungry smile and stared her in the face. A look of surprise appeared briefly on the Sprite's face, followed by a look of recognition. "Oh, it's you. I should have known." The face became reflective. "This, dear Henna, is what happens when you lose control of your magics." The Sprite focused on Kasumi. "You should be more careful, young lady. I could have eaten you. Then you would have been trapped within me. Things would have gone downhill from there for us all."

"Who are you?" Kasumi asked.

The creature frowned a little at her and placed a fingertip on Kasumi's lips. "Sorry, little sister, you don't get to ask any questions, but you do have something I want." The Sprite touched Kasumi's forehead and the mortal woman felt dizzy for a moment. When Kasumi's eyes cleared, she saw that the Sprite's face was clear of blisters. Kasumi's eyes widened in surprise. "Relax," said the Sprite. "I only removed Henna's lost power from you. That's how you got as far as you did. It would have eventually betrayed both you and her anyway." A small smile appeared. "Now it will only betray Henna." (3)

Kasumi forced herself to stand up straight away from the wall. "I don't understand," she said.

"It's not necessary for you to understand," it answered. It's only necessary for you to go home. However, I have to repay you for Henna's power, so listen carefully – One: Your power should not have awakened yet until you had grown a little more, but it's awake now. However, you have a means to cope – whenever you find yourself spirit-walking like this, Summon your Gi. (4) It will come even now. It has Kami-sama's Blessing on it and it would have protected you even from me. Two: Your task is to protect your family – all of them." The Sprite added extra emphasis on the last three words, then continued: "Three: While my words to Henna were true, there is a way forward. It may require sweat, blood, and tears, but a happy ending is possible. Now…it's time to send you home."

With those last words, the Sprite grabbed Kasumi by the shoulders and lifted her into the air. It then slammed the young woman into Henna's full bath tub. Kasumi hit the water hard and the fluid shot up around her as she was totally submerged. The Sprite's hands left her, and Kasumi fought to get out of the tub. Her head cleared the surface and Kasumi wiped the water from her eyes. She was back in her own tub, in her own bathroom. Of course, the tub was half empty and the bathroom was flooded, but she was home. She got up quickly and staggered to her robe. She would deal with the mess later. Right now, she needed to get outside to clear her head. Putting on her robe, she staggered outside to the back garden, and deeply breathed in the night air.

* * *

Footnotes:

1) For those who have only seen the Anime, the last arc of the Manga had Ranma facing off against Saffron, a human-phoenix hybrid. See my Profile for a link to a version of the Manga on-line if you are curious.

2) In "Say 'Yes' to the Dress", Mousse reasons that there is no cure at Jusenkyo and convinces the Nerima shape-shifters of this. Now you know who planted the idea in his head. In "The Date", Ranma learns that the cure does exist at Jusenkyo, but there is a price for the cure. He decides the price is not worth it and starts to make peace with who he is.

3) An unmentioned result of Kasumi's face-off with Henna at the start of "Kasumi's Fate".

4) Kasumi created the Chaos Gi in "Kasumi's Fate". It has some unusual properties due to the manner and place of its creation. It has Kami-sama's/Heaven's Blessing granted through Kimiko, Kasumi's deceased mother. Kasumi was unaware of the Blessing until now.

* * *

Updated: 1/12/14 - I accidentally used Henna's name before the Sprite confirms it. That's the problem with re-writing a story and re-using the old pieces; sometimes you miss a word here or there when you change the perspective. My thanks to Richard Ryley for catching it.


	2. Nodoka

Chapter 2: Nodoka

Kasumi stood looking up at the stars, remembering the encounter with Henna and the Sprite. She would need to talk to Tofu and the rest first thing in the morning, but she wanted to commit the details to her memory using the skills her fiancé had taught her. When she was finished, she stood for a minute listening to the silence. Ranma and Akane were out at a local festival and Nabiki was at college. Her father had probably retired early since Genma wasn't around right now (Genma had taken to wandering whenever he had a few days off from work).

However, she quickly discovered she wasn't alone. Kasumi couldn't really turn off her Other senses very well – she was too empathetic (something her husband-to-be was working with her on). She felt Nodoka standing over by the koi pond lost silently in thought. She walked towards Nodoka's quiet form and called softly: "Auntie, are you all right?"

"Kasumi? What are you doing outside?" Nodoka asked.

"I fell asleep in the tub and had a bad dream. I was just trying to shake it, Auntie," Kasumi answered softly. "What's wrong?"

Nodoka turned toward the young woman. "Kasumi, how many fiancées does my son have?" Ranma's mother asked.

Kasumi went still for a second. "Oh my. This is not going to be good," she thought. Out loud, she asked: "Why do you ask, Nodoka?"

"I thought it was just Akane, and that Kuonji was just a misunderstanding," Nodoka answered. "But that's not the case is it?"

"What happened, Auntie?" Kasumi asked softly.

"A man came to the door today," Nodoka started. "He had a young woman with him – his daughter. He said he was looking for Ranma Saotome. His father, Genma, had promised Ranma to him for his daughter. When I pressed for the details, the short of it was that Genma had betrothed Ranma in exchange for three watermelons about five years back. The man was here to claim Ranma now that his daughter was of marital age. I managed to convince him that no sensible man would ever sell his son like that. Obviously there had been a mistake. The daughter looked very relieved at least. I sent them on their way after feeding them lunch. 'At the very least, the lunch was worth the three watermelons,' the man stated."

Nodoka continued: "After lunch I grabbed the sword, and went to confront Genma at a work site. When I told Genma the story, he just nodded approvingly. 'Well done,' he said, and then turned to walk away. I screamed at him to explain himself, and he just said that it was a small misunderstanding – nothing to worry about. I asked him how many more lunches I should prepare, and he became very quiet. Again, I asked how many and he bolted at that point. I gave chase, but I couldn't catch him. I yelled that he had no honor, which seemed to hurt him a little, but he yelled back that neither did I now, and then he vanished."

Kasumi wanted to think dark thoughts about Genma, but she was more surprised at Nodoka's stoic attitude. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be – Nodoka had been forced to put up with a lot when her husband abandoned her to take Ranma on that training trip so long ago. However, she was starting to worry where the older woman's thoughts were going.

Nodoka spoke up again. "That's not everything, Kasumi. I think Genma was trying to tamper with my medicine," the woman said calmly.

Kasumi now skipped worrying and started to approach out-and-out distress. Tofu had given Nodoka medicine to fight an obsessive-compulsive disorder and alleviate extreme anxiety. The combination of the medicine and counseling had allowed Nodoka to stop holding the seppuku pact over Ranma's head. The son and mother had started to have a much healthier relationship. If Genma was tampering with the medicine, he was endangering that new relationship. "Auntie, we need to go to Tofu's and have him run some tests immediately. If Genma's poisoning you, we have to find out."

Nodoka shook her head. "He's not poisoning me, Kasumi. I think he was either trying to sedate me or drive me into an asylum before I found out about his misdeeds."

"Then we need to side step him. We can keep the medicine at the clinic. Tofu has the means to stop someone like Genma," Kasumi told the woman.

"I've already taken steps, Kasumi. Genma thinks he's so very clever, but he can't think more than two levels in. If he could, he would be in government somewhere. Honestly, I don't know how he ever developed those martial arts techniques," Nodoka said.

"So what will you do now?" Kasumi asked, afraid to hear the answers.

"I've been going over my options, and I don't have many, if any at all," Nodoka said calmly. "I need to commit seppuku, but I think it will do more harm to Ranma than good, in that Genma will now be his only relative alive. In trying to repair my honor, I may destroy it totally by abandoning my son. I will not convince Ranma to join me." Nodoka sighed then. "I'm tired of being the executioner in my son's life," she finished.

After a minute of silence, Nodoka spoke again: "I think the best thing I can do is wait until Akane and Ranma get married, and then I can convince Ranma to join the Tendo clan. Once he does that, I can divorce Genma, throw him out of the clan, and then commit seppuku. My son gets to have his life, Genma has no connection to Ranma, and I can redeem the Saotome honor."

Kasumi's mind now filled with the Sprite's warning. "This woman is part of my family too," Kasumi thought. "That's why the Sprite stressed that my task was to protect all of them. It's trying to manipulate me into getting involved – as if I wouldn't." Out loud, Kasumi said: "Nodoka, I'm not going to let you kill yourself. There's always another path if you look hard enough. We will start by throwing Genma out of the house."

"He won't be back, Kasumi. He knows I'll kill him in his sleep. He's finally crossed a line with me that he cannot take back. I know now he has no honor – he's just a con-man. I should have realized that from the start," Nodoka confessed. "And I'm sorry, love, but you can't exactly stop me when the time comes," she explained patiently.

"This is insane," Kasumi thought and then froze at that thought. "Insane… yes, it is insane. By the Kami, I've been hanging out with Nabiki and Tofu too long." Out loud, she said: "Don't be too sure, Nodoka. What would you say to a little wager?"

"I'd say you definitely allowed your sister to rub off on you," Nodoka said with a raised eyebrow.

Kasumi pushed on, "If I can restore the Saotome honor and remove Genma from the equation, you don't kill yourself?"

"Not possible, child," Nodoka told her.

"I say it is," Kasumi pushed back. "What do you say? I have time to work on it – Akane and Ranma will not marry until after they are adults."

"And what if you are unsuccessful? What do I get out of this wager?" Nodoka challenged.

"Then, if I fail, I'll be your Second. When you commit seppuku, you don't have to suffer," Kasumi told her.

"Kasumi! I cannot ask you to do that!" Nodoka gasped.

"I'm a competent martial artist, Auntie. I know how to handle a weapon very well. I know exactly what's required of a Second. And I also have an issue with people suffering needlessly. So, if I win, you get to live. If I lose, as you think I will, you will get a clean death. Either way, you avoid a slow painful death," Kasumi argued persuasively. Nodoka paused with indecision. "Well?" Kasumi pushed.

Finally, Nodoka reached into her kimono and pulled out an envelope, and then handed it to Kasumi. "Very well, Miss Tendo, you are now my Second. Should you fail in your task, I will hold you to our Wager." With that, Nodoka turned away from her Second and walked back toward the house.

Kasumi opened the envelope and looked at the contents. The normally reserved young woman's face took on a gleeful look as she looked through the paperwork. "Yes!" she exulted. "I was right!"

* * *

The next morning, Kasumi fed the family and then started her daily tasks. At 9:30AM, she began to put together two very large breakfast sandwiches with some unusual ingredients. Once completed, she took the sandwiches with her and walked over to Happosai's room (he often didn't come to breakfast). She knocked on the door, once, twice, and then entered his room with the third knock. The martial arts pervert was sound asleep on his futon, dressed in his usual clothing. Kasumi went over and picked him up by the back of his collar with one hand. She then proceeded to walk out of his room with him.

On her way to the front door, Happosai started to come around. "What? Kasumi? What's going on?" the old man asked groggily. Kasumi answered by shoving one sandwich in his mouth and placing the other in his hands. Happosai realized what she had done, and shrugged his shoulders. Then he began eating. Meanwhile, Kasumi carried him out of the house toward the Ono Clinic.

They walked in through the new automatic front door with Kasumi still carrying Happosai using one hand. "Hello Chie!" Kasumi called out to Tofu's Office Manager (and her good friend). "Happosai and I have a 10AM appointment with Doctor Tofu. Is he ready?"

Chie suppressed her laughter at seeing how Kasumi managed to subdue Happosai, who was still munching on his second sandwich. "Yes, he's expecting you. I'll pass out the tasers to the nurses while you three talk," Chie responded.

"Won't work!" Happosai shouted back between bites as they walked down the hallway to the Doc's office.

Kasumi knocked on the door. "Come in, Kasumi," Doctor Tofu called out. As Kasumi came in, Tofu got up from his desk to come around it. Kasumi placed Happosai in a chair and she exchanged a decent kiss with her fiancé. Happosai ignored both of them as he finished his breakfast sandwich. When they all finished, Tofu sat back in his chair as Kasumi took the third chair in his office. "So, you said at breakfast something urgent had come up?" Tofu prompted.

"Two somethings actually," Kasumi answered. "The first happened when I was in the tub last night," she started. That got Happosai's attention. Kasumi started to describe her encounter with Henna…

* * *

Chie heard the shouting coming from Doctor Tofu's office. She listened (at a distance) for a few minutes, but didn't understand much of the yelling. Chie finally decided that she had enough to go on, and pulled up the Nerima Gossip Forum on her computer. She typed in the following message:

_Attention all forum members: Please be advised that our favorite doctor is currently scolding Ms. Tendo regarding some unknown adventure. The town pervert Happosai is in full agreement with Dr. Ono and is also scolding her. This unnatural alignment between the angelic and the demonic can only signify that the End Times are approaching. Please notify your local churches and temples and watch for further Signs. _

_Yours truly, _

_Chie. _

* * *

"Well," Kasumi thought to herself. "It is nice to know I am loved, but I could do with a little less of it right now." The two gentlemen seemed to be running down and were dropping their voices accordingly, especially since Kasumi had agreed to allow them to place two Soul Cages surrounding her room. She did know that she wasn't suppose to go roaming around without placing proper protection on herself, so the Soul Cages were probably a good idea. She chose not to make an issue of the fact that she wasn't actually in her bedroom when she encountered Henna and the Sprite.

Once the two men seemed mollified, she then described her discussion with Nodoka that occurred afterwards. Both of them were silent for a little bit after she finished talking. Finally, Happosai spoke up: "I assume you have a plan that you want help with?"

"Yes," she acknowledged and then explained what she intended to do.

When she was finished, Happosai looked her up and down. "Are you sure you don't want to switch to Anything Goes? You'd fit right in."

Tofu snorted. "No wonder the Elders approve of her," he said.

"Will you help me? Please?" she asked them.

"This is utterly crazy," Tofu said. "So, I'm in."

"One of the problems with a long life is that you start to believe you've seen everything there is. Life starts to get boring," Happosai told her. "Well, at least this promises to be interesting, so I'm in too. Besides, this may shake Ranma up a little – he's been getting too smug lately." Kasumi beamed at the two men. Happosai continued, "The first problem I see is with the town's political power structure. Toshio Kuno will try and enter the Game too. He's watching Ranma and Akane for some reason. Maybe it's benevolent, maybe not, but I think we need someone not under his control."

Tofu thought about that for a second. "I think I know just the person," the Doc said. "I saw an article about him in the newspaper this morning." He went over and retrieved a newspaper near his desk. After flipping through it, he found the article he was looking for and the accompanying photograph.

Happosai's eyebrows nearly shot off his head when Tofu showed him the article. "Him?" the old man queried. "He hates your guts!"

"Not really," Tofu disagreed. "He just sees me as his personal nemesis."

"Why does he believe that?" Kasumi asked.

"He and I have had dealings in the past when I was on Council business," Tofu explained. "He thinks every time I show up, his world goes sideways."

"That's because it does," Happosai commented. "He believes in science and rational thought. Things like faith and magic drive him up a wall. He may be perfect for our needs though. Besides, he will definitely make this interesting," Happosai added.

"Do you think the Council will give us a free rein in the matter?" Tofu asked. "They are watching Nerima very closely right now."

"Yeah, they will," Happosai stated. "Actually, they will help. Genma's actions threaten to undo Ranma, and Nerima needs Ranma. I think they will agree that neutralizing Genma without killing him is a worthwhile project. I'll start the conversation today. We may need their help in getting our man to Nerima anyway," Happosai said while pointing at the paper.

Tofu looked at Kasumi. "You do realize that as soon as we start down this path, things will rapidly get out of control?" he asked her. "Ranma seems to invoke Chaos. Your little sister is not exactly what I'd call a calming influence. Are you really ready for this?"

Kasumi nodded. "If we do nothing, Nodoka dies and Genma will do his best to disrupt things further. We may lose Ranma, and I'm not sure we can weather the Storm without him."

"We can't," Happosai said. "That's another reason I'm in. Even with him, it's a 50-50 chance. Without him, Nerima will be a smear on the map, and Japan as a whole will suffer."

"You could give us a few more hints about this Storm," Tofu told the pervert.

"No, I can't," Happosai said firmly. "Some I don't know, some I'm sworn to secrecy on, and everyone will act differently if they knew other pieces, inflicting more damage than not knowing would. I promise I will continue to tell you what I can though."

"Then that's that," Kasumi said.

"What are you going to do next?" Tofu asked Kasumi.

"I need to go to Hokkaido," she answered. "One of the documents Nodoka gave me was internment instructions for her ashes. She has rights to a graveyard on Hokkaido in a town near Muroran. I need to get more background on the main Saotome family. I may be able to get more insight into her psyche. I may also be able to locate and neutralize extraneous issues. If I'm very lucky, I may even find a few allies."

"All right then," Tofu said. "I suppose that's it. Onwards to battle." The other two nodded.

Happosai yelled "Sweeto!" and then bounced out the door.

Tofu got up and pulled Kasumi toward him, then gave her a long kiss as soon as the pervert was gone. About a minute later, the central office light above them dimmed for a moment, causing Kasumi to look up. "What caused that? Akane's not in the building, is she?" (1)

"Nope," said the Doc. "It's just a normal power fluctuation. You're getting awful paranoid, Miss Tendo."

"That's because I hang out with you lot," she answered back. She gave him another kiss and said: "All right, I better get back to the house. I'll see you at lunch." At his nod, she left.

Doctor Ono went back to his desk but left the door open and made a point of checking his appointment book on the computer. He saw who was next and then sat patiently waiting (with a smirk) for his 10:30 appointment to show up. Right at 10:30, the short little man appeared at the door. Happosai was very clearly toasted, covered in first degree burns. His clothes were scorched everywhere.

"Since when do you plug in a hand taser?" Happosai moaned.

"Daisuke thought we needed a bit more kick than a couple of nine volt batteries would provide. Ranma rates the overall effect a '4' on the Akane Scale."

"And the boy has her hit him with '6's'? He's an absolute masochist," the old man groaned. (2)

* * *

Footnotes:

1) In "The Date" and In "Her Second Favorite Teacher" we learn that Akane is a Fire Mage. Not only is she able to control fire, but all forms of energy to some extent (and you thought she just had a hot temper…). FYI: Ranma is a Wind Mage able to control air and generate cold (i.e. absorb heat). Ranma's powers also have some interesting side properties we will get to eventually.

2) One of Akane's abilities is generating lightning in a (very) limited fashion. The Akane Scale is the charge she can build up after "X' number of seconds. See the third chapter of "Genma's Job" for details if you are curious.


	3. Genma

Chapter 3: Genma

Genma sat beneath the bridge by the canal, near where he stashed his camping gear. Ranma had come looking for him a few times, but the father was still good enough to hide from the son. The boy was getting stronger though, no doubt about it. Genma was going to have to move on before Ranma managed to break the Umisen-ken and beat the crap out of Genma for draining the family bank accounts. The Amazons were also looking for him because he had attempted to place a second mortgage on the Cat Café – Nabiki had known and told on him once she found out what happened between Nodoka and himself. So were half-a-dozen other small business men for the same reasons. Unfortunately, one of them had Yakuza connections outside of Nerima, so now Genma was known to the Tokyo underworld. Fortunately, he had managed to intercept the settlement to Nodoka for the loss of the Saotome home, but now the Kuno ninjas were also after him too. All-in-all, Nerima had turned south on Genma. The town had forgiven the Amazons, but now Genma was the most hated man in Nerima. He had to steal anything he needed – trying to buy it would lead to a successful sale but would also unleash the hounds.

**Sigh** He never should have told Nodoka that "she had no honor now". He might have been able to fix things eventually if it wasn't for that childish remark. But he knew now that Nodoka would never forgive him for selling Ranma over and over again – even if he did steal Ranma back. He had talked to Ranma (before Genma stole the settlement), and Ranma said Nodoka wouldn't talk to her son about it, so Ranma couldn't get her to change her mind.

His son then proceeded to beat Genma severely for tampering with Nodoka's medicines. As far as Ranma was concerned, that was Genma's unforgivable sin. Ranma yelled at Genma about finally having a mother Ranma could count on, and how Genma was trying to destroy her. He yelled that Genma was trying to destroy everything good in Ranma's life. Genma thought that the boy had finally broken and was going to kill Genma, but Ranma didn't. When Genma was lying defenseless before him, Ranma stopped himself. He then stopped the worse of Genma's bleeding, and straightened Genma's arm and leg, setting splints on them and knowing that his father would speed heal. Ranma then turned away and started to leave, but spoke instead. "Genma…" he started and then stopped. The boy bowed his head and cursed his weakness. "Pops," he started again. "I think it's time you moved on. You cannot come back to the dojo ever again. Mr. Tendo has made it clear that you are no longer welcomed after trying to sabotage Mom's medicines. You've broken one of the cardinal rules of the household. Besides, Mom will kill you in your sleep. You're not happy staying in one place anyway – you've been ready to leave ever since Jusendo. But, I'm not ready to leave and I never will be. My place is with Akane and I'm happy here. It's time to head south, Pops. Follow the warm weather." With that Ranma walked away.

Genma winced at the memory. The one constant in his life for nearly twenty years was gone. He knew Ranma still cared about him, but the others had taken Ranma away from him. So, Genma sat under the bridge trying to think of what to do next. He thought about leaving Japan, but the Kuno settlement wasn't enough to retire on. Maybe he should work his way south to Okinawa. The weather was warmer there, so he could save some money that way – he didn't really mind the heat. Also, there were a lot of transients in certain parts of the islands, so there were plenty of fresh fools. He'd rather not work at all, but maybe he could get some work at a dojo teaching. He was good enough at several forms for that (easily).

As he lay there, a voice wheezed out at him. "Well, well, Genma Uchida. As I live and breathed, I never expected to find you in Nerima. I wondered who was using my Umisen-Ken. I thought you were dead."

At that name, Genma sat up like he was shot out of a gun. He glanced at the old woman who had appeared to his right. "You must have married and taken her name to escape my wraiths. Amazing – I never would have thought you were that smart," the old woman continued.

"Mara!" Genma exclaimed. Then his eyes grew wary. "I have no disagreement with you anymore, old woman, and you should have none with me. I was punished unjustly by you."

"Is that the spin your little mind put on our adventure together? You break into my shop and steal my scroll, refuse to give payment, and then complain when I extract it from you? Next time, don't shed in my shop. By the way, you'll be happy to know that your hair is a big hit in Hell. Many the demon lord has bartered a soul for it. They pass it around like a cherished doll. Many of them have asked about the rest of you too…" Mara told him.

"Go away, old woman," he told her. "I have no business with you."

"Shut up and move over," she told him. "That was long ago. I got my revenge. This sun is hot."

Genma warily did what he was told. "Why are you here, old witch?" he asked.

She slapped him on the head as she sat down. She was dressed in old sackcloth robes. Other than that, she looked like any other grey haired old woman. "I should be offended that you would lump me in with witches, and witches would definitely be offended to be lumped in with me. I'm an ogress, idiot. You already know that. You've seem my true form. I'm here looking for deals as I always am. You find the strangest things in Nerima, so I like to check by once in a while. I just picked up some hermaphrodite tears of all things – excellent for youth potions. Why are you here, idiot?"

"That's my own business hag," Genma said uncowed.

"Yes, but you look thoroughly disgruntled – I could use a story with a happy ending. How about a bottle of sake to loosen your tongue?" the ogress said, bouncing a sealed bottle of sake on her hand. "Even trade – the untainted bottle for the untainted story?"

Genma looked at the bottle carefully. It had the seal of one of the local stores. "Deal!" he said snatching the bottle.

The old woman laughed as he drank from it. "Now, give the story Genma!" she demanded.

Genma found himself telling the unvarnished truth, starting at the failed wedding and running all the way until today. He found that he couldn't embellish it or put any spin on it. Even to his ears, he sounded like a complete idiot. When he finished, the old woman collapsed in helpless laughter. "Oh, that was priceless, Genma!" she hooted. "That story will warm the cockles of my heart on many a cold night!"

"You tricked me, old hag" he grumbled.

"I did no such thing!" the woman laughed. "A deal is a deal. The sake is everything I said it was. It was untainted, so your story had to be as well. If you don't like the ending, that's too bad – you wrote it. At least you got a bottle of good sake for it," she continued chuckling.

Genma made a face at her and took another drink. "Well, since it's given you such joy, how about a comment on what I should do next?" he asked sourly.

"You already know that part," she said. "Get out of town while the getting is good. If you're determined to cheat your wife out of her share of the settlement, go south to Okinawa before your former son/daughter finds you. You can get lost in the islands down there. The weather's warm enough that you never need fear the cold. You can use your panda shape to rough it if need be. All-in-all, you'll probably be happy, so why not do it?" she asked as she took out a pipe and stuffed tobacco in it.

"Because I want better! I worked hard for better using my worthless son, and he tossed me aside!" Genma snarled.

"That's not what I just heard," the ogress said. "He gave you every chance. He kept hoping that you'd catch on and settle down. Finally he had to make some tough decisions, something that actually caused him a bit of pain judging from his actions. He decided to move forward from there."

Genma paused for a second, and then said "He should have chosen me over everyone else." His voice didn't sound as fierce.

The old woman looked amused. "You have got to be kidding! Choose an abusive father over a loving mother? Reject his true love and become homeless? Leave behind every friend he has to be your servant? Why on earth would he decide in your favor?"

"Because I'm his father!" Genma insisted.

The woman blew smoke rings from her mouth. "Is that what you call it? If that story represents what you did to him over the last eight months, I don't want to think about what you did to him over the last eighteen years. No, you were never his father – you were his Master and the Slave has broken free. He's unlikely to ever return to bondage. Yet, your son loved you despite everything. He gave you every chance to actually become his father. He kept trying right up until the moment it was obvious that trying any further would destroy his life. Even in the end, he never denied he was your son despite the fact he tried to force himself. Now, it's done. He has moved on. Be a big boy and accept the fact that you will not do what is necessary to get him back."

"What's that?" Genma asked subdued.

"Apologize to him. Not just to him, but your wife, your best friend, and your best friend's family. Then make amends. Everyone will be very wary of you at first, and you'll never have the trust you once had, but they will include you again. In time, they will even forgive you, even if they don't quite forget. However, you'll probably actually end up happier than if you went to Okinawa," she told him while she blew smoke figure "8"s.

"Never!" Genma insisted.

The transformed ogress just shrugged her shoulders and started to blow out smoke squares.

"But I want him back," Genma said quietly.

The old woman rolled her eyes. "Amazing, you actually miss him. You could tell him that, but it won't work without an apology," she stated firmly. "Even so, he won't follow you again. He's in love with your friend's daughter, and he knows that every baby bird must leave the nest and make its way in the world."

Genma laid down on the ground as the words sank in. "There must be a way to get him to come back to me," he thought. The two stayed like that for some time, Mara puffing on her pipe and Genma thinking. Suddenly Genma sat up. "If everyone turned their backs on him, he would have to come crawling to me," Genma said out loud.

"Are you for real?" the enchantress asked.

"All I need to do is lock his curse," Genma stated. "Then he cannot marry. Soun won't let him teach if he can't marry into the dojo. His mother won't accept him anymore either. It's perfect!"

"Not even close," the old woman said.

"Mara, do you have anything that will lock his curse?" Genma asked.

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked in turn.

"He was locked a couple of times in his cursed form. Surely you have to have something?" he pressed.

The ogress sighed. "I suppose a sale is a sale. What do you have to offer for a locking potion?"

"What do you want?" Genma asked.

"The usual will do, Genma. I can see if someone wants your soul," she said sarcastically.

"Fine, fine," Genma agreed. "I can stiff them later."

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" she asked him.

"C'mon. Make with the magic," he prompted her.

The ogress sighed again and closed her eyes. After several minutes, she opened her eyes in surprise. "There are no takers," she said astonished.

"What?" Genma asked surprised. "What do you mean there's no takers? Did they know I was going to stiff them?"

"First off, I'm not sure how you thought you would stiff the demons," she asked. "Second off, there are no takers because they are sure you're already on the way, and whoever has your hair when you die will get the rest of you."

"Of all the presumptuous morons…" Genma started. He then followed up with some swearing.

"Genma, are you listening at all?" Mara asked. "Hell's sure you are coming to them. Don't you think you should be a little worried? Like worried enough to run to a monastery and swear to a life of helping people? I'm an ogress and I don't want to go to Hell!"

"Ah, I'll just trick someone to go in my place," Genma said confidently.

The ogress reached into her backpack and took out another bottle of sake. She opened the bottle and took a long swig. "Genma," Mara started, "No one goes to Hell willingly. They are either dragged there or they cannot get into Heaven and cannot get re-born. You have to go somewhere though. If the demons are sure you are bound for Hell, it's because they don't think you'll get re-born and they are sure you won't get into Heaven."

"Then I'll just become a gaki," Genma said.

"Oh, and that's so much better," Mara said sarcastically. "Fine, but you still have no takers."

"What about Ranma's soul? Could I sell him to them for the potion? I am still legally his father," Genma said.

Mara blinked. "You want to sell them your son's soul? The son you want for yourself?" she asked.

"Yes, but they can't have him until after I'm dead," Genma confirmed.

Mara just stared at him.

"C'mon, c'mon…" Genma prompted.

Mara closed her eyes again and Genma waited. When she finally opened her eyes, there was a bit of wonder in them. "Well, that was interesting…" she said.

"Any takers?" Genma asked.

"The short answer was 'No'…" Mara answered.

"What? Why the hell not? What's wrong with my son?" Genma asked with wounded pride.

Mara looked at him with curiosity. "The majority of the demons said either you have no son, or that your son was already dead and beyond them. Some gave his death date as 14 years ago, some insisted that he died about 8 years ago, some said he died about two years ago, and others insisted that he died within the last year. The more powerful the demon, the later the death year was. Several of the demon lords just laughed hysterically and said 'No'. One went as far to say that when Armageddon occurs, they want it to be on Earth, not in Hell. Overall, Genma, I'd have to say that those who believe Ranma is alive also believe he's more trouble than he's worth. That's a first for me…"

"Maybe they aren't so stupid…" Genma grumbled. He thought for a minute, and then said, "I know! Promise them my second born."

"Genma, your wife won't let you near her and hasn't since you left her all those years ago. How are you going to have a second child? Also, weren't you trying to drive your wife into an asylum?"

Genma just waved his hand in a dismissing gesture. "I'll just hook up with someone later," he said.

Mara looked at him in disgust and debated just leaving. Finally, she closed her eyes and opened them quickly, "You have a taker. One of the weaker demons is willing to gamble. He'll put up the power for the potion. He'll also pay me for brokering the deal."

"Excellent! Do it!" Genma exclaimed.

Mara looked like she was getting a migraine, but held out her hand and a potion appeared. "Here's the deal: you splash this on anyone and it will lock one curse and only one curse. There's only one dose, so don't miss."

"Fantasic! I'll soon have Ranma crawling to me! Then I can take him south and we can earn some money in the Fight Clubs! This will be great!" Genma exclaimed. With that he grabbed the potion, grabbed his backpack, and took off without another word.

Mara watched him run away. A look of rage crossed her face and she pulled a short wand out of her pack, and then pointed it at the retreating Genma. She muttered some angry words, causing sparks to fly from the wand. "There," she said to herself. "At least I know that Genma will never produce any more offspring to harm…"

With a grim face, she put the wand away again and pulled out a small mirror. She tapped the mirror three times, and Henna's face appeared within the glass. "All right, Henna. I sold Genma your potion. He thinks he just sold his second born to Hell," Mara told the image.

"Excellent, Mara. I knew I could count on you. Once Ranma is locked in his female form and the 'Kiss of Marriage' cannot be fulfilled, I can get the Amazon elders to order Shampoo to carry through on the 'Kiss of Death'. Ranma will kill Shampoo and that will be that," Henna said.

"My payment?" Mara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, yes…three souls as we agreed," Henna said. Suddenly, three glass spheres appeared on the ground in front of the ogress.

Mara inspected the souls trapped in the glass balls and said: "Done!" Henna was gone without another word.

The old woman got up and carefully put the glass spheres in her backpack. Then she wrapped the mirror carefully and placed it in a secure compartment. "Let's get you three to a temple and send you on your way," she said to the souls in her backpack. As she walked away, she reflected on Genma – he hadn't changed a bit in the twenty-plus years. He was an absolute moron when he crossed her so long ago, and he was still an absolute moron. After all, the verifiable existence of Hell had scared *her* onto the straight and narrow. It should have scared him as well to know that the demons were expecting him.

Mara did have some concerns regarding the locking potion Genma had, but quickly dismissed them. If the demons thought that Ranma was too much trouble to handle, Genma would be a piece of cake for Ranma. Besides, she knew something about that locking potion that Genma didn't. Apparently, Mara also knew something about Ranma that Henna didn't either. Odd that Henna didn't know it though despite the careful attention to detail Henna had shown elsewhere in her plans. It was almost as if Henna had a blind spot. Still, it wasn't Mara's job to correct it...

* * *

Henna looked at her perfect image in the mirror after Mara's had faded out. She was laying in her tub, and the Sprite was hiding in her murky tank. "That's Shampoo out of the way now. It's a good thing I decided to do a little research on the Saotome and Uchida families. Fancy that the head medicine woman in the area was actually an Ogress collecting souls and that she actually knew Genma. Now, I just need to work on protecting the Sprite and figuring out how to extend my life," she said to herself. With that, she got out of the tub and threw a robe on, and then she left. Talcum would be by to clean up later. As the door closed, there was a burst of giggling from the Sprite's tank that slowly became laughter, which ran on and on and on…

* * *

A/N: I updated some comments regarding Genma and the Amazons in my profile regarding this Continuum. Please use PM if you have comments about the profile. My thanks to Compucles for providing some early feedback!


	4. Revenge

Chapter 4: Revenge

Ranma lay on the hospital bed in one of the clinic's empty rooms listening to the rain outside. He had left the Tendo residence in an effort to get some sleep. The problem was that his Mom and the Tendos were not there, which meant some of the local crazies (specifically Shampoo and Ukyo) had seen this as a great opportunity to stake out the house. They were not attempting to break in, but were rapping on various windows and doors in an attempt to make him come out to talk to them about his "feelings". This was despite the fact that he had yelled at the top of his lungs that he had *nothing* to say to them and the only "feelings" he had for them was annoyance! Thank heavens Kodachi and Tatewaki were out of town, or he'd probably have them as well. After two hours of this, he admitted to himself that he could either retreat or beat the crap out of them. Despite the regular sparring he did with Akane, he was still reluctant to hit girls (at least until they struck first anyway), so he grabbed the keys Tofu had left with him and snuck out through the rain to the clinic.

There were no patients in the Clinic this evening, so the nurse's had gone home and everything was dead quiet. Had there been someone here, Ranma would have just let them know he was using the clinic as a hiding place – they would have accepted that readily enough (so long as he wasn't hiding with Akane – there were limits, not that he (or Akane) would have pushed them). The Doc was away at a "medical conference", but had given Ranma a key in case the young martial artist needed a private retreat for any reason.

"What else do I have to say to them?" he wondered. "Which part of 'I don't love you' is unclear? I pretty sure the words 'We are never getting married, ever!' or 'Go away!' should say I'm not interested. Are they just so sure of themselves that I won't be able to resist them if they are persistent? Maybe the issue is I haven't told them I love Akane. Of course, I'm afraid that they will immediately attack Akane then. Akane can probably take them now, even if they attack together, but I'd rather Akane not have to deal with this at all."

He also wanted to know how the word got out that he would be alone. He hadn't even told Hiroshi or Daisuke (otherwise they would have tried to talk him into hosting a party). He supposed Yuka and Sayuri knew, but the two were with Akane at a young women's spa retreat and they certainly wouldn't have told any of the Fiancée Brigade. As much as Nabiki enjoyed busting his chops, she had long ago stopped causing Ranma this kind of trouble. Besides, Nabiki was with the three girls at the retreat too, and she would never create such chaos unless she could watch it. His Mom didn't talk to anyone but the Tendo sisters (she was the Chaperone on the trip since Kasumi had to visit a friend up on Hokkaido), so she wasn't the leak. Kasumi kept everyone's secrets, so she wasn't the leak either.

His best guess was Soun (who happened to be on the west coast for a training seminar). His father-in-law-to-be was sometimes careless and occasionally spoke to Genma. After all, Genma worked for the Department of Public Works too, but not directly for Soun (more like three levels down in another section). Ranma wished Soun had broken all ties with Genma, but the two men had a lot of history together and it was hard to just ignore something like that (something Ranma understood very well). Ranma knew they still played Shogi every Wednesday night in a bar downtown. Ranma was also sure Kasumi knew, but neither Ranma nor Kasumi chose to take Soun to task for his weekly game. As long as Soun stood firm with not letting Genma come near the dojo (or Nodoka's medicines more to the point), that was good enough.

That was the one thing Ranma could not forgive his father. Ranma had been abused by Genma all his life under the guise of training, but nobody was allowed to touch Nodoka. Ranma's Mom was trying so hard to make-up for the past. She was taking her medicines religiously. She had stopped carrying the sword even though Ranma knew it caused her distress. She also stopped carrying the damn contract around as well, saying that Ranma had nothing to fear from it – she was the sole judge and she had passed judgment. On his 20th birthday, the contract was to be destroyed and that was that. Nodoka had also asked Doctor Tofu to explain to Ranma exactly what an obsessive-compulsive disorder was, so the lad knew what his Mom was dealing with – she figured this would further free Ranma in case she had a relapse. Ranma knew this exposure of weakness had cost her.

It was interesting to watch his Mom now though. She was still the same woman, but she seemed happier now. There was no longer a cloud hanging over her head and she was less self-absorbed. She had always liked the Tendo sisters and adored Akane especially, but now she was determined to "mother" them all including Kasumi. This occasionally caused eyes to roll (and laughter from whichever two sisters were not being targeted at the time), but the three sisters took it all with good humor. Nodoka was careful not to overstep bounds and never contradicted Kasumi. She also knew the sisters well enough when to back off and made a point of not trying to replace Kimiko and not intruding on the special bonds between the three. But otherwise, she played the role of "Auntie" to the hilt and was obviously having a lot of fun with it.

Of course, her son was her favorite target, regardless of which gender Ranma showed up in, but Ranma always enjoyed being the center of attention, so this didn't bother him much (even if the sisters were laughing at him). He was getting use to the maternal hugs, and survived the "facts of life" talk with minimal embarrassment (he got the lecture twice – once for each side). His mother had some excellent advice on surviving certain days on the calendar (not everything that worked for Kasumi and Akane worked for Ranko). Not everything was perfect – Nodoka felt she should hound Ranma about his school grades. Ranma was happy with passing, but Nodoka wanted him to aim a little higher. His Mom pestered him more than Akane did on the subject. But, all-in-all, Ranma was happy to have a functioning mother in his life.

Of course, with things being so good, he was getting paranoid. Life didn't usually work so well for him. Everyone in the dojo was happy with him: Akane was happy with their relationship, his Mom was happy with his behavior, Kasumi was happy with his level of responsibility, the Doc was happy with his study progress, and Mr. Tendo ("Call me 'Soun' lad") was happy that Ranma was committed to the dojo (and Akane – but he didn't push that right now). Even Nabiki was happy with her verbal sparring partner. So were those outside the dojo who were important to him (Ryoga, his school friends, Mousse, Konatsu, Shizuka, and Hideo). Granted, Ranma was working on trying to make people happy, but the fact that it was working (and they were trying to reciprocate) kept surprising him – he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Oh well, he might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Then again, not everything was perfect. He still had two idiot suitors present ("C'mon – I mean even Cologne has thrown in the towel! She let's Mousse spar at the dojo now!"). He also had a steady stream of love letters arriving from both Kuno's which was driving him nuts. All the letters mentioned that their uncle was telling preposterous lies about Ranma/Ranko and Akane. They insisted Toshio Kuno was going so far as to intercept the mail and fill it with more lies – the Kuno uncle had contacted both Akane and Ranma formally (through a lawyer and overnight delivery) and told them exactly what he was saying, asking the young couple to back up the truth in any manner possible. Ranma and Akane had started by scrawling short polite messages ("I'm sorry, but I don't love you", "Ranko is an alias, I am Ranma", etc.) on the love letters and sending them back. Toshio had been sending checks to cover postage and gift certificates for night's out for putting up with the nonsense. However, as the letters continued, both teenagers were getting short tempered about the whole thing – Ranma was now writing "GO AWAY!" while Akane was mailing back copies of legal documents defining stalking and criminal punishments applicable. The letters from Toshio were turning into pleas for patience – the Uncle had gone so far as to settle the Dojo lawsuit favorably, but even he admitted that he was going to have to take away mail privileges very shortly.

Ranma continued to listen to the soft sound of the rain. He no longer disliked the rain as much as he use to. While he was not ecstatic to be a shape-shifter for the rest of his life, he was getting use to the idea, so much so that he was no longer unhappy about it either. At least his other form was pretty and athletic. Most importantly, his other half was human (which put him ahead of a lot of the Jusenkyo crowd). Mastering the art of switching clothes during the shape change also helped (and that fact that his family and friends treated him the same no matter which shape he wore). Truth be known, he no longer disliked the rain at all. He had many happy memories of sitting on the back porch with Akane watching the rain fall. Depending on how the wind was blowing, he might have been male or female but he was always happy to be with Akane.

This caused him to reflect on his Tomboy. She had only left with the others early this morning, but he easily missed her more than his Mom and the others combined. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" he thought to himself. It bothered him a lot not to have her near. This was the first separation for any real length of time since the events at Jusendo (he suppressed a shudder here). He knew a couple had to normally spend some time apart, so when she told him about the Women's Spa Retreat, he encouraged her to go saying he would miss her, but it was only for a few days; he wasn't going anywhere. Still, the fact that he couldn't check up on her ate at him. "I'm being stupid," he told himself. "Mom's there to watch her; so is Nabiki. And it's not like she can't defend herself. I know where the Fiancée Brigade is, so it's not like they are going to cause her any issues." Then he smirked to himself. "Ah, I'm just missing my 'Good Night' kiss. That's what's wrong with me." Still, the rationalizations didn't help the urge to hold her and keep her safe…

Finally, the soft noise of the rain was starting to work on Ranma. It was peaceful. Slowly, that peace stole over him once more, allowing him to drift off into sleep. His last thought as sleep claimed him was hoping that his Tomboy would sleep well too.

* * *

Genma watched Ranma slowly settle into sleep. So far, things were going exactly to plan. He had leaked to Shampoo and Ukyo that Ranma was in the dojo alone tonight, knowing that they would drive him out. He had figured that Ranma would either go to the canal bridge or seek shelter elsewhere depending on the weather. Given the rain, Genma guessed that Ranma would go to the Clinic and that Ranma would have keys. He also figured the lad would not intrude on Tofu's living space without permission, but would set himself up in one of the empty rooms. Genma had been in the Clinic about an hour and a half before Ranma and had made sure to oil the hinges on all the doors and to find out where the squeaky boards were. The part-time panda now crept into the room, wrapped in the Umisen-Ken. Slowly, he crept up to Ranma's bed and uncorked the potion. This would be perfect.

Carefully, he poured the potion on his son, and watched as the boy began to glow. He was not surprised to see that Ranko was now in the bed, but she seemed to be turning fitfully, as if in some pain. The girl's head began turning back and forth, in side-to-side motions. She seemed to be gasping in pain too. Then a growling sound started to emanate from her throat. Her back arched and her mouth popped open. As Genma watched, the girl's teeth began to lengthen and thicken (especially the canines), startling him. Ranko's eyes now popped open, the blue orbs showing pain and confusion. Slowly, the pupils began to narrow and lengthen and the irises grew, until two azure cat-eyes stared unseeing at Genma.

Ranma's father began to back away slowly from the bed. Ranko convulsed, flipping and rolling over onto her stomach, so that her head was now closest to the door. The eyes were closed in pain again. A shadow seemed to rise from her skin, engulfing her clothes and enclosing the girl in a dark blue-black shape. The shape began to thicken, hiding the girl within it. Genma watched as paws buried hands, and cat ears appeared on the head. In pain, the shape stretched and seemed to grow. With horror, Genma noted that the head had changed and was now sporting a powerful muzzle with those huge teeth. A tail sprouted from the backside, and the legs thickened, becoming hugely muscled. The paws were tremendous. Finally, the shape rose from the bed and burst out with a brilliant blue aura. The great cat opened two vivid blue eyes and stared at Genma. A low growl began to emanate from the creature's chest. It was extremely obvious that the great jungle cat was not fooled by the Umisen-Ken.

"Oh my god…" Genma said as the cat stepped off the bed towards him and the growl became a snarl. It was not Genma's imagination that the great cat seemed to grow even larger upon hearing his words… (1)

* * *

The local police precinct was in chaos. It had started with an alarm at the Ono Clinic. The officers arriving on the scene had found the front doors smashed open from the inside. There were now two officers guarding it until Mrs. Shimizu and her husband could make it secure again. Then reports began circulating about some sort of gaki screaming its head off all over town. People reported the shouts of terror, but could never see anything and were afraid. There were also reports of the shadows coming alive and a cold mysterious wind that would spring out of nowhere. No one was hurt, and very little actual damage seem to occur (a few small items blown over), but it was definitely freaking out the populace. Finally, there were large explosions sounding throughout the district, but there were only sounds – no light and no damage.

"What the hell is going on?" Sergeant Imia muttered to himself as he stood in the squad room. He had been woken by the Inspector and ordered to man the station. The Inspector was out and about, trying to get a handle on the situation. The Inspector had reported getting caught in two windstorms and hearing an explosion, but couldn't locate a source. All of a sudden, there was a "BOOM" sounding from three blocks over. "Takata!" Imia yelled. "Grab two men and go find out what that was!" As the three men ran out the door, Imia was grimly grateful that there were no cowards on his staff…

* * *

Cologne was up on her roof trying to track the disturbance. She had ordered Mousse to drag Shampoo back to the restaurant. When he returned, he had Ukyo with him as well. The Elder ordered all three to hide in the basement until sunrise. The teenagers did so without complaint – they had seen the fear on Genma Saotome's face as he tore by them. They had also felt the Anger hiding in the shadows slip by them. Mousse had felt a terrible Power pass close to him, but the two young women felt something additional – a warning to stay away or they would be next.

Cologne shuddered as she heard more screaming. It sounded like the damned being tortured in hell. Although he didn't deserve it, she began to pray for the soul of Genma Saotome…

Sometime around 3AM, a wind began to blow through Nerima and seemed to carry the screams, explosions, and the atmosphere of fear away to the north. The shadows no longer moved of their own accord, and the cold gusts of wind stopped completely. People stopped talking about a gaki and sought their beds. Cologne stayed up on the roof and kept praying.

* * *

The morning rounds were underway at Wako General Hospital. Everyone was buzzing about the man who was admitted just after sunrise. The worst they ever seen some had said. Others called it a miracle that the patient had survived. The local police were trying to identify the car crash the man was reportedly in, but they had their doubts that the story the patient told was true – anyone who looked like that after a car crash should have been dead. Besides, those cuts looked more like rune carvings rather than random slashes caused by a collision with a truck carrying glass. Also, the story didn't explain all the puncture wounds and the fact that some of the skin on the patient was half-flayed. The doctors believed the man was part of some crazy cult – all the slashes were deep enough to cause maximum pain, but shallow enough not to be lethal. How else had none of the major arteries been hit? The patient denied the accusations though and insisted that the police should be looking for a truck missing its load of plate glass.

Genma sat wrapped completely in bandages. The pain medications the doctors gave him worked to some extent – so long as he didn't move. He had refused the sleep medicines though. The doctors had stitched up what they could, wrapped the half-flayed skin, set the broken bones, and then had to leave him be. Genma knew he would heal quickly enough (it would only take a week or so; he was who he was), but he also knew the pain would never completely go away. That's what the c-c-cats had promised him – all eighty-seven of them that his child had vomited up explosively, one at a time. Each c-c-cat had arrived with a booming noise, a blast of cold air, glowing eyes, and a vendetta. One-by-one, they had inflicted their punishment with bites and claws. Genma couldn't even defend himself – his hands passed right through the ghostly apparitions (he had actually broken a number of his own bones in his efforts to strike at the cats). Once the animal was satisfied with the punishment, it returned to the glowing p-p-panther and merged with the great c-c-cat. Then another c-c-cat would shoot from the p-p-panther's mouth and Genma would face his next tormentor.

"This is what you did to your son!" the c-c-cats cried. "Even now, there is no justice. We can only punish you once, but you threw him in the pit four times! The child that you tortured has forbidden your death, even though you killed us! But you will remember us, each and every one of us. We will carve our names into your soul, and whenever you sleep, we will be there in the back of your mind, crying for the lives you took from us. Every time you see a cat, you will remember us," they promised.

And so it was done. Genma sighed; he finally understood what Ranma had gone through. Genma now was terrified of c-c-cats just like his son. He had all the downsides of C-C-Cat Fu and none of the upside – no c-c-cat would ever share its spirit with him. To top it off, he was a marked man – any c-c-cat that did see him immediately attacked. He also feared sleep, knowing that the dreams would be waiting for him.

"Damn it!" he thought. "Why is everything conspiring against me?"

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) The Cat Fist Perfected was introduced in "Brothers", Chapter 11. This version of the Cat Fist occurs when every one of the cat spirits sharing Ranma's spirit merge with Ranma's psyche, something that happens only if all the spirits agree on a common goal.


	5. The Judge

Chapter 5: The Judge

Judge Isao Sanu sat at his desk in a private office within the Nerima District Court building. "Why am I here?" he questioned for the fourth time today. "Four weeks ago, I announced I was retiring from the Tokyo High Court. I had made a big speech about it, and gave several interviews. I was all set to go south with the birds and seek warmer weather. All I had to do was worry about Ryuu. Now, I'm watching over a District Court again. How did I get talked into this?" Actually, this was a very rhetorical question. He knew exactly why he was here…

* * *

Three and a half weeks ago, he had received a summons to appear at Kokyo from one you did not ignore. His old friend had sat him down and explained that things were out of hand in Nerima – the City Council was under the sway of external influences and needed to be freed. His friend was gravely concerned about possible miscarriages of justice. The Powers-That-Be were concerned that the police may be handicapped, but were afraid of the public scandal that could result if an overt investigation were carried out. His friend had asked if he could please accept an appointment there and set things to right as only he could. An opening was made recently, and Isao could fill it.

Isao had tried to beg off. He knew that his friend had no political power to order such an appointment, and that there was more to this request than met the eye. Isao protested that he was no more talented than many others. But his friend countered with examples from Isao's past – the handicapping of the Yakazu in various cities, the resolution of disputes with the Ainu political groups, and attacking discrimination of the Burakumin. All of these were delicate issues. Not to mention bringing several corporations to their knees for various wrong-doings. And, Isao had done it all quietly, almost "under-the-table" as it was. Isao winced at the memories. "Under-the-table" was right. Many of those situations had placed Isao between a rock and a hard place. It was a miracle he got out of them unscathed. Actually, he hadn't gotten away unscathed – he had made a lot of enemies. Ryuu was proof of that. At least Ryuu was accommodating.

His friend had gotten Isao to promise to "think about it." Then Isao had gone back home and received his next shock – the front door to his house had about a dozen daggers embedded to the hilt in it. Attached to each dagger, there was a note from a different Yakazu family congratulating him on his appointment to the Nerima District Court. They also advised that he might want to reject it and maybe take an extended vacation – like to the United States for the rest of his life. Ryuu had commented that he had never seen the judge so angry before. Even now, the thought of those hoodlums threatening him caused his blood pressure to skyrocket and a snarl to escape his throat. He'd get even with them all for the threat.

The final straw had been the call from a buddy at a newspaper the next day. One of his reporters had been working on a story regarding the niece of Toshio Kuno. The reporter had thought that there might have been a cover-up in the district of Akasaka regarding the trashing of several hotels. (1) After a little digging, the reporter had told the editor that there was influence peddling involved. The man said this might be the story of his career. However, a few days later, the reporter had vanished. When the man finally showed up in the hospital after being missing a week, he had no memory of anything within the last month, including Toshio Kuno. Isao knew Kuno very well. They had been adversaries many times, but Kuno was slippery and had gotten away each and every time. Kuno's mammoth corporation acted as a law onto itself. Isao knew Kuno didn't bend rules – he snapped them into pieces and burned the remains. The one key regret in Isao's career was that he never brought the CEO to justice.

When Isao had quizzed the editor on the whereabouts of Kuno's niece, the man told Isao the girl lived in Nerima. "Of course she did," he thought. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, and thrice is the work of the enemy. Isao knew the door full of daggers was a bit of misdirection. The Government, Organized Crime (Ryuu had confirmed the daggers as authentic), and the Press all wanted Isao to go to Nerima. He had no idea why, but a challenge had been laid down.

The evening after the editor's phone call, he had a long talk with his servant. "Ryuu," Isao started. "Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?"

"Sorry, Boss," the hit man told him in that gravelly voice he always spoke in. "I'm in the dark as much as you are."

"I'm not wrong about the daggers, am I?" Isao pushed.

"No, I don't think you are. The Syndicate is laying down a challenge. They think that whatever is in Nerima will be your undoing. They are daring you to take it on," his man confirmed.

"How strong is the Yakazu in Nerima?" Isao quizzed.

"Almost non-existent," Ryuu answered.

"Excuse me?" Isao said in disbelief.

"You heard me, Boss. There's very little Yakazu activity in Nerima. Rumor has it that there is too much local activity to make it worth the while," Ryuu stated.

Isao wanted to stare at his servant in disbelief, but didn't. Ryuu was guilty of many bad habits, but he did not lie to Isao – they had too much history (and respect) between them. They were two old warhorses who had been in too many battles together (even if it was on different sides sometimes). Ryuu might hedge, or dodge, but he never lied.

"So why bother trying to trick me to Nerima to get me out of the way? I'm going to retire! I'm going to go lie in the sun for the next few years!" Isao burst out.

"Because they know you are lying to yourself," Ryuu said calmly.

"What?" Isao exclaimed.

"I've seen your profile at Headquarters, Boss. It's about 15 centimeters thick. Your friends and enemies have spent a lot of time studying you. So have I, for that matter, and we all know the same thing: You will not spend more than four days lying on that beach. If that's the only thing you have to look forward to in life, you'll beg me to kill you," Ryuu said with a flippant tone hiding in the gravel. "You have no family, no hobbies, and no strong interests other than the Endless Fight. You drink a little and enjoy a smoke twice a day, but you don't gamble or chase women. You're a cold rational empiricist, worse than the British Sherlock Holmes; at least he had the violin. The only thing you do enjoy is your food, but there's only so much a person can eat. What exactly did you think you will do all day?"

Isao had no answer to that. He had been getting tired of all the politics in his job, but the quest for justice had been his passion in life. What was he without that?

Ryuu started in again. "Face it, Boss, wherever you are in two weeks, you will have bulletin boards and white boards surrounding you. There will be pictures of the latest crimes up, and there will be a file on Toshio Kuno sitting on your desk that you copied just before your last day at this job. You'll be watching the Yakuza families again and tracking the movement up and down the hierarchy. The only difference from today is that you'll be a private citizen."

Isao sighed at the truth in that. "You make me sound hopeless," he complained to Ryuu.

"Somewhat," Ryuu agreed. "Cheer up. You also believe in rooting for the underdog and protecting the innocent. You don't appreciate happiness or understand love, but you want others to have it. There's even a crack of mercy in your make-up. These are reasons you have fans in the Yakuza. I think even Kuno respects you. I know the Charlatan did." Ryuu grinned evilly at the last statement.

"Shut. Up." Isao told his henchman crossly. The mention of that magician/mentalist always set his teeth on edge. The judge took a deep breath and then blew out his frustration. "So, 'O Wise One', what do you think I should do?" he asked Ryuu.

"You already know that, Boss," Ryuu answered. "Now if you excuse me, I need to set up this evening's trap…"

* * *

So, after a brief holiday (which he cut short because he could not lie still on the beach), Isao became Judge Sanu again. As he sat in his office staring out the window, Ryuu brought a cup of tea into him. The judge took the tea and looked at it, then he looked at the clock on the wall. "Is it really 11AM already?" the judge asked.

"Yes, Boss," Ryuu answered.

Sanu took a sniff of the tea. "Not bad, the peppermint really hides the smell of the hemlock," he told Ryuu. Then he dumped the tea into a nearby planter. "Oh, will that hurt the fig tree?" he asked.

"Nope," Ryuu told him.

"Good. I'm going to go for a walk and grab something to eat from a local stand. Anything I should avoid in the park?" the judge asked.

"No, but you may want to swing somewhere close to a fish stand at some point and time. I could use a bite to eat, and I feel like fish today," Ryuu answered.

"Fair enough," the judge agreed.

* * *

The judge walked through a large nearby park eating a sandwich and a bag of potato chips while reflecting on the past two weeks. There was something definitely odd about Nerima, but he hadn't sorted it out yet, although he and Ryuu had both spent time on the issue. He knew he and Ryuu were being handled, but he couldn't track who the lead handlers were. He knew Kuno had ninjas watching him, yet that's all they did – they watched him and reported on his movements, and they didn't interfere. But everyone knew who he was. Any time he bought something or talked to anyone in the street, they addressed him as Judge Sanu, even though he hadn't met them before.

He had ordered an inspection of various accounts attached to the Town Council, but everything was in order – Kuno was donating money (all right – a lot of money) to the city, but there was no law against that and none of the Councilors were benefiting from the funds directly. The money pretty much went where it was suppose to. The police were understaffed, but when he reviewed the police logs, he could find no justification for increasing the size of the force without the Council's approval. He went as far as asking Ryuu to take a look behind the scenes, but his henchman reported no hidden bank accounts or money sent offshore. Oh, there was a little favoritism here and there, but nothing really unexpected Ryuu had said. Actually, it was a bit lower than would be found elsewhere.

The incident at the park gates a week ago bothered him though…

* * *

He had gone for a walk one Saturday morning and noticed that the entryway to one of the numerous parks in the city had been demolished. There were two women arguing in front of the gateway wreckage covered in dust. Both women looked to be just shy of 20 years old. Both were striking – one had long purple hair and spoke with a broken accent, the other was dressed androgynously (but was obviously a woman) and spoke with a southern accent. Each of them was yelling that this (whatever 'this' was) was the other's fault. As the judge watched, a policeman strode up to them and demanded an explanation for the disturbance. Both women immediately looked shame-faced. At this point, the judge angled in for a closer look and listen.

The police officer told them that they were to cut it out and that both of them were going into the Book (the judge heard the capital letter) for this. The young women hung their heads and answered "Yes, officer." At that point, the judge decided to cut in.

"Excuse me officer, but what is going on here?" Sanu asked.

The officer turned with an annoyed look on his face until he saw who it was, and then became properly respectful. "Oh, it's you Judge Sanu. My apologies. Sometimes the local busybodies cannot help but get involved in a little street theater," the man answered. The officer threw a withering glare at the two women. The two young women looked startled to hear Sanu's title before wilting appropriately under the officer's glare. The officer continued, "These two women work at rival restaurants and can often get into heated arguments over one thing or another. I received a call about a peace disturbance and arrived to find them shouting at each other. Judging from the dust covering them, it obviously got a little physical."

"A little physical?" the judge remarked. "The park gate is in ruins!"

The officer looked surprised. "I'm sorry, sir? How could two little women knock down the gateway? The gate obviously collapsed sometime before they began shouting." The judge swore he heard flesh sizzling with the look the officer threw at the girls.

"Yes, sir," the purple-haired girl answered with a broken accent. "Gate down before we shout at each other."

"We were fighting in the dust," the other agreed.

"I'll check the Log Book and see when the accident occurred that took it down, sir" the officer followed up. "Clean up must have started already since I don't see any car or truck parts around. It will be fixed in a day or so, I'm sure. Our Department of Public Works employees are top notch. Aren't they girls?"

"Oh, yes officer," the purple-haired girl agreed.

"Extremely efficient," the other added.

Judge Sanu knew he was only hearing half of the conversation, but for the life of him, he couldn't imagine what the missing half was. In the end, he could only nod at the trio and walk away. As he left, he heard the officer address the women again: "O.K. Each of you gets one phone call, and it better be to your restaurants. If either of you calls Himself, I swear I'll make your lives a living hell…"

* * *

When the judge checked the Police Log Book later, he found a mention of the disturbance with the two girls. He also found a separate entry mentioning the fact that the gateway had been knocked down, but there were no details – only that repairs were complete. Sanu checked the gateway later and couldn't tell that it had been knocked down. Apparently, the DPW was very efficient (something else that didn't seem right). Last night, he asked Ryuu if he had heard anything about it.

* * *

"No, Boss, which is extremely unusual. I think I'm being handled," he said.

"O.K. That makes two of us," Isao said.

"What? You think I'm being handled too?" Ryuu asked.

"No, I mean I'm being handled as well," Isao corrected sourly.

"They obviously figured I work for you, Boss," his henchman said.

"All right, but who's 'they'?" Isao asked.

Ryuu held up his hands in exasperation. "The cops, the Town Council, the merchants, the ninjas, the salary men, the housewives, the school children – everyone but us! There is something here, but the town is guarding it jealously! I've never seen a town work so well together. If it wasn't for the little slip-ups, I'd swear there was nothing here."

Sanu got up and went over to the bar. Before opening it, he glanced at the clock. Ryuu caught the look and said, "It's O.K., Boss. The mayapple root in the stew was 'it' for the day."

Sanu nodded his head and replied, "That steak was good by the way." He took out two glasses and poured some whiskey into them. He handed one to Ryuu and they sat in two chairs across from each other. "Let's start there," Sanu said. "What are the 'little slip-ups'?"

Ryuu thought for a moment. "The first is 'His Lordship'. That's obviously a codeword. The police use that one the most." (2)

Sanu reflected on that. "I usually hear that one in tones of disgust. I think it's how they reference Kuno. The police don't like him, although they are alone in that attitude. I think the 'Offspring' are the brother and his family – not many like them."

"Makes sense," Ryuu agreed. They worked through a number of other phrases they heard folks referencing, matching them up to people and places. Finally, they came down to the term "Himself".

"I thought it was another one for Kuno," Sanu said, "but people seem either exasperated or amused when they use it. One phrasing I've heard was 'Good lord, not even Himself could cause this much of a mess!'"

"Or even a certain fondness," Ryuu added. "The police, the Council, and a lot of older folks use the term. I think it's one of the younger citizens. Many of them seem to have nicknames that their elders use. I think it is one particular person too, instead of a general reference. I'm sure I heard one mother say to another 'Himself is in the park today. All the kids have gone to see him.' When I looked though, I didn't see anything unusual – just kids playing."

"All right," Sanu concluded. "So, 'Himself' is likely a young male, somewhere between 14 and 19 years old. He has an ego and a penchant for mischief, but he's good natured about it – enough so that the police like him. He's also someone the local kids can count on."

"I think the adults too. I know I heard one of the merchants say that 'Himself' had lent a quick hand," Ryuu tossed out. "So, he's probably at the higher end of your age range."

Sanu nodded. "All right, we'll keep an eye out for him."

"What about the term 'Book'?" Ryuu added. (3)

"You picked up there's something not quite right there as well?" Sanu quizzed.

"Yeah," Ryuu agreed. "It sounds like the Police Log Book, and if you press a cop on the matter, that's what he says. But I know I heard one guy yell to another 'Which precinct is keeping the Book this week?' That doesn't make sense – the Police Log is at all the precincts."

"Normally I'd think it's a gambling pool ledger, but the way people reference it makes it sound like an instrument of discipline. I think we need to find it and get a hold of it. Maybe it will answer a few questions for us…" Sanu said.

* * *

Judge Sanu continued his walk, pondering the discussion with Ryuu last night until he noticed two police officers standing some distance from the path under a large tree and looking up. He approached them silently to see what was going on.

"Well, the hot water didn't work. It only pissed her off," the male officer said.

"Ah hell," the female officer said. "She's locked again."

"Locked?"

"It's happens from time to time. Any time it does happen, it means someone's been pissing around in stuff they shouldn't have, and Herself somehow ends up involved. Most of the time, it's not even her fault. It's like she's a chaos magnet – any time something goes wrong, it seeks her out."

"Well, we can't leave her here," the man said.

"She's not dangerous, but you're right; we can't leave her here. Unfortunately, her family is out of town," the female replied. She seemed to be thinking for a few moments. "Of all her circle, I think the She-Wolf is the most reliable to hold on to her for a bit."

"The She-Wolf?"

"You'll see when you meet her. She runs a dojo on the east side of town. I'd love to call the Doc, but he's at a conference right now."

At that point, Sanu decided to step forward. He didn't know the "She-Wolf's" proper name, but he had met the middle-age woman in passing. The only words she said to him were "Good morning Judge Sanu" and then she moved on before he could do more than nod. The judge had picked up more concerning her from the people talking about her as she left the store he walked into. She was a Tai Chi instructor with a stern face and a no-nonsense attitude. Rumor said she had a sharp tongue. The "Doc" probably meant Doctor Ono of the Ono clinic, but the judge had never met him. The police preferred to see him for any of their medical complaints. "Herself" was a new one though. Sanu wondered if it was any relation to "Himself."

"Excuse me, officers," Sanu broke in. "What's going on here?"

Both officers turned around and looked surprised when they saw Sanu. The female – Officer Kokawa her name tag said – clamped down on her expression and said "Hello Judge Sanu. Nothing too serious, your Honor. Just a little disturbance we need to take care of." The other officer – Officer Ueda – just nodded. (4)

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound from high up in the tree. As the judge stepped forward to take a look, he swore he saw the officers wince. The judge was expecting to see a large cat stuck up in the tree, but was shocked to see a young woman about eight meters up kneeling on a large branch. The girl looked to be about 18 or 19 years old with bright red hair and was dressed in a red Chinese shirt and brown cotton pants. She was pressing her head and shoulder hard against the tree trunk and seemed to have her eyes squeezed shut as if she was in a great deal of pain.

Sanu turned a stunned face to the officers. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"Um…that's Ranko Tendo, sir," Officer Kokawa started. "She's not feeling well and we are debating the best way to take care of her, sir."

There was a sorrowful "mrrow" from high up in the tree.

"Did she just 'meow'?" the judge asked in disbelief.

Now Sanu was sure he saw Kokawa wince. The female officer let out a sigh and dropped the head a little. "Yes, sir. She thinks she is a cat right now."

"I'm sure I didn't just here you correctly," Sanu prompted.

"You did hear me correctly, your Honor. Due to a childhood trauma, she has a severe fear of cats. If she is exposed to cats too long, she suffers a psychotic break and thinks she is a cat," Kokawa answered.

"Then why isn't she confined to a hospital?" demanded the judge.

"Because most of the time, she acts normal except for an extreme tendency to bolt from cats. She is under treatment, and she isn't dangerous. Usually, she snaps out of it if you splash her with a glass of water. Failing that, a good night's sleep usually works. So, there's no need to confine her to a hospital. Unfortunately, her family is out of town right now, and the water trick didn't work, so we need to call a family friend to come get her and watch her until she snaps out of it," Kokawa told him.

Judge Sanu looked up in the tree again. He admitted to himself that the story sounded plausible. If the girl was no danger to others or herself, and she acted normal most of the time, she shouldn't be confined. The hospitals were already full of people who couldn't be treated. This girl apparently could be treated. He was amazed how cat-like she appeared to act though. He was also bothered by the pain on her face.

"Does she normally appear to be in that much pain when she has these spells?" Sanu asked.

Kokawa stepped forward and looked up into the tree. She studied the girl for a moment and a concerned look crossed her face. "Actually, sir, that's not normal. When she's stuck in the psychosis, she normally looks relaxed if there are no cats about and nobody is pestering her."

The judge pondered the expression on Kokawa's face then made up his mind. "Normally officers, I'd tell you to carry on, but I don't like to see anyone in pain. I want Nerima General to see her and make sure there's nothing physically wrong with her. I'll sign an order for them to hold her until her family comes back. I'd hate to find out later that her appendix burst."

He turned to look at the girl again. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ueda mouth to Kokawa: "He's right."

Kokawa winced again, but nodded. Out loud she said, "You're right, your Honor. We will get her to the hospital." She waited to for the judge to say something or carry on.

Sanu turned to her and motioned with his hands. "Call the ambulance. I'll help Officer Ueda keep an eye on her."

Kokawa nodded and walked a few meters away, and then spoke quietly into her radio. Shortly thereafter, Sanu's cell phone went off. "Judge Sanu," he answered.

"Stay put, Boss, and you have immunity until tomorrow," Ryuu told him. "The lady just called the precinct. She said that Himself or rather Herself was in trouble and that you and Ueda were watching her. The dispatcher held his hand too long on the mike so I heard him start to curse. There are a lot of code words flying on the securer radio channels too; some of them are new. I heard orders to find the Doc, the Smile, the Little Missy, the Swordwoman, and the Town Cryer – they are to be taken to the hospital immediately. The Bastard is to be thrown in jail and held on suspicion of assault on principle alone, but don't formally charge him. The Spy, the Pig, the Cook, the Ghoul and whoever is with them are to be interrogated were they are and ordered not to move. There was a quick debate about the She-Wolf between a Sergeant Imia and Inspector Ojima. Ojima ordered a plain-clothesman to apprise her of the situation, but give her freedom to move."

Sanu strode a few meters away from Ueda. "All right, there shouldn't be this much action. It sounds like we just found a nerve. Go into the records and pull everything you can find on Ranko Tendo."

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) Happened in "The Date – The Flip Side", Chapter 12

(2) The extensive use of nickname by the elders of Nerima was started in "To Serve and Protect in Nerima". The term "Himself" was introduced there as well.

(3) The Book is mentioned in "To Serve and Protect in Nerima". Basically, it's an accounting ledger that tracks damage a martial artist does and the police use it to make sure the martial artist fixes the damage without having to arrest anyone (and have the jail overflowing).

(4) Kokawa and Ueda are from "To Serve and Protect in Nerima". Ueda was one of the main characters in that story.

* * *

A/N: I have received a few criticisms regarding "To Serve and Protect in Nerima" complaining that I should have exposed Ueda to some of the more mystical aspects of Nerima. However, to put it bluntly, Ueda isn't that complex a fellow. He would stand around in disbelief for a bit, and then move on accepting the situation as normal - especially after witnessing the martial artists. Not a very interesting addition to the story.

Another reason is that I had already created Judge Sanu and wanted him to play the role of an outsider experiencing the weirder (non-martial artists) side of Nerima (I didn't want to tell the same story twice). Besides, the judge is a more complex fellow and his reactions should be more interesting. If you like, you can say that Ueda just said "Tag, your it," to the judge...


	6. Mobilization

Chapter 6: Mobilization

Dr. Isamu Ando looked out a second story window of the Ono Clinic and pondered the TV crew van parked across the street. He knew they were trying to find out about the disturbances last night throughout Nerima and now they had found the front door of the clinic missing. Chie and her husband had done their best to create a makeshift door, but there was only so much one could do without the proper parts. Despite what some people think, Ando wasn't stupid. He was arrogant and self-centered, but not stupid. He knew the disturbance started here. He could also make a few guesses about who was responsible (or at least involved). Now, he had the chance to get in on a news story and focus attention on himself. Just a few quick words and a few inferences would shake up those bastards at Nerima General who had banished him to this clinic. They would hear the threats implicit in his voice that he would tell the truth about what really happened in Nerima unless they pulled him back to the main hospital.

The thing was, he sort of liked the people at the clinic. They never missed an opportunity to bust his chops, but they also never missed an opportunity to be nice to him either (even if some of them did consider him a pain, which he knew). Did he really want to do that to them? Ono was a demanding boss, but Ando was learning despite himself. And Ono always had your back – you never felt that he would hang you out to dry, unlike some of the clinics about Tokyo. If Ando got back into the hospital by blackmail, then who would really trust him again? Certainly not the people he betrayed or the people he blackmailed.

Ando started to sigh when Chie interrupted him: "Doctor Ando? We have a problem, and it's rather bad."

Ando turned to the Office Manager. "Are you referring to the TV van outside?" he asked.

"The what?" Chie started, and then looked out the window. "Oh, hell," she said. "They've seen the damage."

Ando nodded. "What else is up?"

Chie turned from the window and looked with a worried face at Ando. "It's Ranma, Doctor. He's stuck in a tree locked in his female side and he seems to be stuck in Neko-mode as well. Tofu is out of reach right now and the cops are clamoring for help – they think she may be in pain. The new judge has seen Ranma and has ordered that he been taken to Nerima General, but no one's sure how to make Ranma move safely."

Ando closed his eyes. "O.K. Isamu, it's time for a choice," he told himself. "You can take that news crew to Ranma and escort him to Nerima General, securing your place there once and for all. Or you can support Ono and the Clinic." He paused for a second and thought: "Ranma is an arrogant ass, but so am I, and sometimes we bastards needed to stick together." He blew out a breath and said out loud, "Ah, I'd make a lousy Chief of Staff anyway."

"I'm sorry, Isamu?" Chie said confused.

"All right Chie, listen up. Tell the police not to move Ranma and to keep things as low key as possible. Don't upset the girl, just leave her be. Tell them I'm putting some medicine together to help them and I'll be there as soon as I can, but she'll be fine if no one bothers her. I may need a ladder though."

"You know how to get her out of the tree?" Chie asked.

"Yeah, I do." he confirmed. "Don't worry about it. Next, that news crew will be in here shortly. Keep them away from me for about twenty minutes. Tell them I'm with a patient."

"Won't they be suspicious if no one is with you when you finally see them?" she asked.

"No, because you're going to tell Nurse Kanon to change into her running clothes. She's now my patient. She can also give me a hand prepping what I need to help Ranma." He motioned her to follow him to the stairs. "Then call your husband and ask him to come back. He's knows enough to play maintenance worker for us. Ono's buying us all a nice dinner when this is over."

Chie nodded. She didn't know where Ando was going with this, but she knew he was onboard.

Ando started again: "As soon as you are off the phone with your husband, get me the number for Ranma's friend, Daisuke – the one who built the tasers for us. I need to talk to him. Finally, I need you to call Tofu's friend Hideo, the florist. Tell him Ranma's in trouble and I need some valerian root, some Tatarian honeysuckle wood, some silver vine, and some Nepeta Cataria. I'm sure he has them."

"Nepeta what?" she asked.

"Nepeta Cataria – also known as catnip," he grinned smugly.

Chie hugged him: "That's brilliant!"

He gave her a quick hug back, "Of course it is, now let's move!" He led her down the stairs. "I've talked to Ono about the Cat Fu, and from what he's told me, I'm pretty sure one of those plants will work, but I need to prep some other things. Send Kanon to me as soon as she's changed." He walked quickly to his office.

A short time later, Chie knock on Ando's office door. She went in when acknowledged and found Kanon grinding up some tablets while Ando searched through some files he had taken from Tofu's office. "Doc? Here's Daisuke's number."

"Fantastic," he said. He took the number and dialed the lad. "Daisuke? It's Doctor Ando over at the Ono Clinic…Yes, I know about Ranma, and I'm trying to get there as fast as I can, but I could use your help…How'd you like to be famous for fifteen seconds my inventor friend? I could use a cover story and I think you can help us out…"

* * *

When Hideo pulled up to the Ono Clinic, he saw a news crew outside filming the front door. He pulled on his cap and grabbed the bundle of plants, taking time to hide it among some roses to make the bundle look innocuous. Then he got out and walked past the news crew to go around to the back entrance. He saw that Naoki Shimizu and Daisuke were standing with a newswoman and he heard the newswoman start recording:

"Hello, I'm standing in front of the Ono Clinic in Nerima, the site of one of those mysterious explosions that happened overnight. However, unlike many of the other disturbances, this one has a known explanation…"

Hideo's eyes widened and then he grinned as he heard Daisuke start to talk about a prototype door actuator that the young man had been working on. Daisuke said that the clinic had let him use the front door as a test site, but the actuator had malfunctioned when a large power surge hit it last night. "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. When the police hear that one, they'll run with the story of power surges across the city…" Hideo thought. He ran around the back and let himself in.

Chie ran back to greet him: "Did you get everything Isamu asked for?"

"Yep. And I did one better," he answered her. "Where's the Doc?"

She took him to Ando's office, who was alone when he greeted them. Ando asked: "Did you have all the plants?"

"Here's the silver vine and the catnip. Chie, you can keep the roses. I also have the dried valerian root here. But I brought powdered honeysuckle instead," Hideo answered. Chie took the flowers and left.

Ando's grin became absolutely vicious for some reason. "Genius!" he exclaimed as he took the honeysuckle from Hideo.

"You're making a giant cat toy, aren't you?" Hideo said. It wasn't really a question. "How do you know it will work? It's usually genetic whether a cat is sensitive to the plants and Ranma's not really a cat. Even if it does work, the plant toys only hold a cat's attention for a couple of minutes, before the cat's nose becomes overloaded and it loses interest."

"I'm aware. I own four cats myself. All of them are immune to catnip, two are immune to valerian, one is immune to silver vine, and all of them fall for the powdered honeysuckle. But, I know at least one of the cat spirits inside Ranma is sensitive to powdered honeysuckle, something his rivals would kill to know, so keep that to yourself. I don't know why a spirit would be sensitive – maybe it remembers an imprint from the living DNA."

"You know about the Cat Fu?" Hideo asked looking stunned.

Ando gave a short laugh. "Look," he said. "I didn't want to believe in magic, but you can't hang around Ono and not pick up on the idea. Ono is a damn good doctor, but I know he's also a damn good witch doctor. Besides, it's really hard not to believe when you have all these damn shape-changers in Nerima transforming in front of you. It gives me a headache thinking about all the so-called Natural Laws they are breaking, but the evidence says they are real, so they are."

"As for the powdered honeysuckle," Ando continued, "I bought a toy packed with the stuff on my lunch hour one day for my cats, and Ranma couldn't seem to leave it alone. Since then, anytime he pisses me off, I blow some powdered honeysuckle in his face and he sinks to the floor. He stays sitting there for a few minutes and then gets up and goes about his business, forgetting that he was busting my chops.

"Oh my god!" Hideo said in wonder. "Do you know how many people would pay to know that?! His teachers alone would offer a small fortune!"

Ando snorted a laugh, "Yeah, well if word got out, I'd have to tell him the truth. I think if he knew what was happening, he could stop it – he is mostly human after all. So, please don't tell anyone or use it yourself – find another method. Let me stay one-up on him!" Ando almost begged.

Hideo laughed. "All right, but what about the time limit? Once the plants wear off, what are you going to do?"

Ando picked up the plants and began bruising the leaves, then stuffing them into a small round cushion about 30 cm in diameter. The insides of the cushion were also covered in a fine white powder. Ando spoke as he worked: "Kanon helped me ground up some mild sedatives which I dumped into the cushion. When he bats the cushion, some of the sedatives will puff out. According to Ono's files, all the Nerima Martial Artists are affected by the milder sedatives, even if they are resistant to the heavier ones. I'm hoping Ranma will still be affected by them as well. Between that and a little bit of fish, I hoping it may make him pliable enough to move him, but not trigger a severe fight or flight response. I also don't want to knock Ranma out though – it may do damage to him in this state. I know the police want him to go to the hospital, but I'll be satisfied if he just runs home – we can deal with him privately there. I'm not sure he'll do that though if Akane's not there. I'm just hoping that he trusts me enough in his altered state for me to get close."

"Do you want me to try?" Hideo asked.

Ando shook his head and gave Hideo a very direct look. "No," he said. "I need you here. My local witch doctor is unreachable. Unless you have a way to contact him, you'll have to do."

The two men held each other's gazes. "I trust you'll keep quiet about that?" Hideo finally asked.

"You keep my secrets and I'll keep yours," Isamu agreed.

Hideo relaxed. "What do you want me to do?" he asked Ando.

The doc said: "What ever happened to Ranma happened in this clinic. There are signs that he came here last night to get away from something. I don't know what, but it looks like he set himself up in one of the patient rooms. Please go upstairs to room D and see if you can figure out what happened. There's an odd smell I cannot place – maybe you can. I have my cell phone on me – call me if you find out anything. Maybe Ranma will snap out of this thing by himself, maybe he will need help. If the latter is the case, the sooner we get answers, the sooner we get him back."

* * *

A little while later, Hideo was upstairs after having seen Isamu off. He looked around the room carefully. The doc was obviously right – Ranma did set himself up here last night. There were a few manga on the floor and a can of soda by the bed. Ranma's shoes were downstairs and his socks were up here. Ando was also right about the smell. There was a sharp smell that reminded Hideo of a reptile house at the zoo and there was definitely an arcane component to the smell. Hideo looked at the sheets on the bed, and saw a faint grey stain. He could also make out an outline where someone had lain.

He ran downstairs for some gloves and a collection kit. Chie saw him and asked: "Did you find anything?"

"Yes," Hideo answered. "Someone poured a potion of some sort on Ranma last night while he was sleeping. There still traces of it in the bedsheets. I'm going to gather what I can of it, and hit the local practitioners. We need to know what was done. In the meantime, close off room D and send anyone who needs overnight care to Nerima General – don't use the upstairs until we find out what the hell that stuff is. Until we know for certain, let's keep exposure to a minimum. You have a good excuse not to hold any overnight patients with the front door missing." With that, he ran off to get a collection kit.

* * *

Kasumi left the local gift shop in Muroran with an upbeat step in her walk. Her trip north had been very productive and, while she was still organizing things in her head, the plan was looking more and more doable. To top it off, she now had a gift for Akane. Once she had something for Nabiki, she could relax. Ranma was easy to shop for; if it was edible, he was happy. She was basically playing tourist now until she took the train/ferry home tomorrow. While her little research trip had been fun and her fiancée was away on "family business", she was still anxious to go home.

Suddenly, the cell phone in her pocket went off, startling her. She was not use to the phone yet. While almost everyone in Japan had a cell phone these days that did not include the Kasumi or Akane (Nabiki was always a law unto herself). Money had been too tight for the longest time. Things were easier with Father's two jobs, but the daughters still didn't have phones yet – Kasumi had her Father's cell phone that the Town Council provided. Soun has at the business conference and wouldn't need the phone, so he had insisted that Kasumi take it on her trip north. "Hello, Soun Tendo's phone," she answered. "I'm sorry, he's not here right now. He's at a conference on the west coast. This is his daughter Kasumi…Oh, hello, Inspector Ojima….I see. Yes, that does sound like a problem…Oh my. Who is with her now?...Well, I've met Officer Ueda and he struck me as a nice man….No, I haven't met Judge Sanu…Oh my….Maybe Ranko should be sent to the Ono Clinic instead? I have great faith in Dr. Ando…I'm sorry?...Oh dear…I see. Well, since I'm of legal age, maybe the judge will release her to me. I'm in Hokkaido, but I'm going to start my way home immediately…Yes, sir. I'll will go immediately to the hospital…Thank you, sir. Goodbye."

Uncharacteristically, she sighed when she hung up. Chaos had struck a lot sooner than Kasumi planned. Still, her fiancé had warned her, so she shouldn't have been surprised. Her usual smile appeared on her face again as she walked to the nearest park. She managed to find a somewhat secluded area and stopped. Once a few people had moved on, she called out sharply: "Tomo!" (1)

Almost instantly, a young boy about twelve years old appeared in front of her. "Yes, Lady Kasumi?" he said respectfully.

"That should be 'Aunt Kasumi', Tomo," she corrected gently. "You're suppose to be undercover."

"Yes, Aunt Kasumi," he agreed.

"It seems Tofu was not being overly paranoid when he insisted that you accompany me north. I need the fastest way to get back to Nerima. Things have taken a turn for worse at home. Looks like it's time to do your penance – go check your contacts and find me the fastest non-magical way home," she requested, although see couldn't stop from saying: "Please?"

Tomo bowed respectfully, "Immediately La- Aunt Kasumi!" With that, he vanished.

Still smiling, Kasumi returned to the gift shop to find a gift for Nabiki – she no longer had the time to browse at her leisure…

* * *

Daisuke shot into the back yard of Hiroshi's house and ran up to the back door. He rapped on the door sharply, and Hiroshi stuck his head out a second story window. "It's open," Hiroshi called out and then retreated.

Daisuke entered and ran up the stairs. He flew into Hiroshi room. "Dude, did you see me on the TV?" he yelled out.

"Yep," Hiroshi answered as he was packing a backpack. "You looked good, but you're going to have to invent that actuator now."

"Ah, why the hell not," Daisuke said throwing himself into a chair. "It will keep me out of trouble for a bit." He shrugged. Then he noticed the backpack and asked: "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I'm going to the spa the girls are at," Hiroshi said.

"Excuse me? You know where they are? Why the hell didn't you say something?" Daisuke asked with exasperation.

"I did. I told the cops. They are trying to reach them discretely, but they are on Jinaito Island off of Niijima. There's no cell coverage there and no ferry – you get there by chartered boat. Since Ranma's stuck as Ranko, she doesn't really have a legal guardian. That judge has taken control of things for some reason and will only release her to her Mom and Dad. The cops don't think they can order a boat out to get Mrs. Saotome without the judge finding out, although I'm not sure why. Then it has to be explained how Mrs. Saotome is Ranko Tendo's mother."

"For heaven's sake, everyone knows about Ranma's curse, what's one more person?" Daisuke demanded.

"The judge is a complete unknown. And it's not so much about Ranma as it is about Nerima itself. You have noticed things are a little weird here, right?" Hiroshi asked.

"It has occurred to me, yes," Daisuke acknowledged sardonically.

"Some people like to pretend it's normal though. Others have secrets they want to protect. Yet others are afraid of what's hidden in this city. No one wants the judge poking around in case he finds something they don't want found. They are afraid Ranma will give the judge an excuse," Daisuke explained. "Everyone wants to maintain control."

"Good bloody luck," Daisuke snorted while rolling his eyes.

"I agree, but that's not my problem right now. The police may be handicapped, but I'm not. And the difference of getting Akane back here a few days early may make or break things," Hiroshi stated.

"Hold on, how do you think you are going to get out to the island?" Daisuke challenged.

"My mom's brother is a pilot," Hiroshi answered. "My mom heard what is happening and she asked him to go. I'm going with him. We are going to fly down to Niijima and either rent a copter or a boat. Jinaito's an easy distance from there. With luck, we can be down there by this evening and go out first thing in the morning. We can probably get back here tomorrow afternoon with Akane and Mrs. Saotome."

"Sounds good. When do we leave?" Daisuke said.

"Aren't you helping the Clinic? You need to be findable for that cover story, especially since the police are going to run with that power surge angle to explain all the sounds last night. You better work on keeping your story straight instead," Hiroshi told his friend.

Daisuke was going to argue, but his brain was quick enough to see his friend was right. He slumped dejectedly.

"Cheer up," Hiroshi said as he picked up his backpack. "The other news channels are going to be looking for you too. Your fifteen seconds of fame may become fifteen minutes..."

* * *

The Mayor of Nerima sat in his office cursing his idiocy. He couldn't raise anyone at the conference because he had forbidden them to break protocol and take their cell phones to the conference. The conference organizers also refused to interrupt the sessions. Soun wouldn't get his messages until he got back to the hotel. The Mayor called and booked tickets for Soun on the first train back to Nerima in the morning. He just had to try and maintain things until tomorrow afternoon.

He called the Records Department, "Is it done?" he asked the first person who picked up the phone.

"I think so…" the person asked.

"What do you mean 'I think so…'?" the Mayor demanded.

"Someone swiped the file as soon as it went back to Records. We are hoping the ink had time to dry…" the voice on the other end answered.

"Oh hell…" thought the Mayor.

* * *

Akari looked out over her domain with a sigh at what Ryoga had done this morning:

A winter's worth of wood chopped and stacked – check.

The winter hay all moved into the barn loft – check.

The north grain field harvested, separated, composted and turned for the winter – check.

All mature apples picked and stored in the silo – check.

The tractor, the combine harvester, the composter, and any tools cleaned and idle (not that they had been used today) – check.

All the animals fed, watered, bathed, and living in fear of anything walking on two legs – check.

Six farm workers terrified that she would lay them off – check.

"All right," she addressed the farm workers, "Where is he?"

Jun spoke up: "He's in the east field ma'am."

"Fine. And relax, please. This is a farm; there will be more work to do tomorrow and I have a few projects we can get a start on. In the meantime, please check everything he has done and make the proper adjustments. Then see if you can coax the animals out of the barn and back into their outdoor pens. I'll have a chat with him," she told him.

"Actually, there's no need to have a chat with him," she thought to herself as she walked to the east field with her faithful sidekick, Katsunishiki – the (extremely) large Sumo pig. "He didn't do anything wrong, but he doesn't usually wake up like this, so something's up. Besides, I need the farm workers to realize that this is not normal and I still need them too. I have some busy work I can give them for the day…"

She found him in the cherry grove sitting on a rock. He sometimes came up here to think. The GPS unit she had given him was hanging around his neck. With his family curse broken, it now worked and was set to lead him back to the farm house. As she approached, she noticed that weeds in between the cherry trees were systematically vanishing. "Whoa, has his power grown that much?" she wondered. As she got closer though, she could see that something was indeed up. Even in the bright sunlight, she could see the bright blue aura surrounding him. "Oh crap," she thought. "Ranma's in the Cat Fist – that's what this is about."

His posture told her that he knew she was there, so she walked up behind him and put her arms around him: "What's up sweetie? And don't tell me 'nothing'. I can see the aura," she told him.

He looked slightly surprised at that. "You shouldn't be able to. I'm not trying to project it. Even if I was, the sunlight would wash it out. You might be 'gifted' yourself. Your training with Kasumi might be awakening it."

She shrugged. "I am who I am. I'll worry about that later." Then her voice hardened: "Now stop trying to change the subject."

Ryoga started to protest that he wasn't trying to, but that would be counter-productive, so he dropped it – he was learning slowly, but surely. She was concerned about him, so he answered: "Ranma's been in the Cat Fist since I woke up early this morning. Given my power reserves, he's been in it for at least a few hours before that. It's now the afternoon and he hasn't come out of it. Akane's away at that retreat, so I'm starting to worry that he can't come out of it without her."

Akari nodded her head. She knew about the retreat since Akane had invited her as well, but Akari couldn't be away from the farm that long during harvest time. However, that was before Ryoga had done his two-yen worth. "I think it's time for us go to Nerima," she told him.

Ryoga shook his head. "We can't leave until the harvest is done," he said firmly.

She laughed then. "My, my. You have been distracted this morning, haven't you? Jun and the rest are scared I'm going to lay them off. We are several days ahead of schedule at this moment. They can maintain things for a few days."

"Ah, hell. I didn't mean to take their jobs," Ryoga said.

"Relax, there's still plenty to do," she said. "I think we will use Katsunishiki to go to Nerima though. If Ranma is still stuck when we get there, we may need Katsunishiki's strength and they won't let me take a sumo pig on the train for some reason."

Ryoga grinned at the small mountain standing next to his Beloved. "Gee, I wonder why…"

* * *

Akane was feeling very restless. She couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that hung over her. It wasn't that she was missing Ranma (she was, but that wasn't it). It wasn't that she felt alone (hard to be alone with all the women about). Still, ever since last night, starting about midnight, she felt something was out-of-sorts.

"What's wrong Akane? Aren't you feeling well?" Nodoka asked her.

"I'm not," Akane told her. "I'm feeling off, like something is wrong back home."

"I'm sure everything is fine, Akane. Maybe you just miss Ranma?" the mother said hopefully.

Akane heard the teasing tones and smiled, "Yeah, I do miss him. When he's not about, I feel as if I've misplaced something valuable. But this isn't that. I hope everything is all right. I wish I could call home…"

Nodoka pulled Akane into a walk and tried to make her feel better, but deep down, she was worried too, and wished they really weren't so isolated.

* * *

Tatewaki walked silently toward the train station trying not to attract attention. Hopefully, it would be several hours before his uncle noticed he was missing. He had to get back to Nerima and celebrate this great day. His spies informed him that Saotome had been captured by the police and locked away for good. He must go and claim his Fierce Tigress, now that she was free of his evil.

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) Tomo was introduced in Chapter 7 of "The Date" and played a significant part on that night.

* * *

Next up: Dr. Ando has to walk a fine line between perjury to a judge or getting lockup in a mental hospital. See you for "In The Neko"...


	7. In The Neko

Chapter 7: In the Neko

The Cat pushed against the tree, using the pressure to ground itself while it tried to break the Binding its Sire had infected it with last night for some reason. The Binding had immediately sealed the Boy away and then the Girl, but that left the Cat in charge, and the Cat was not about to lose such large pieces of itself. It was determined to protect itself and the Boy and the Girl were part of it.

It hadn't always been like that. Once, the three had been separate with the Boy hating the other two. But as he got older, that hate faded. There were actually times he called one or the other, and they answered. The more time he spent with his other sides, the more tolerant the Boy became. Eventually, the Boy's hatred for the Cat faded all together. He was still afraid of cats outside himself, but he was no longer afraid of the Cat inside. The Girl had been harder for him, but as he started to deal with women outside himself, the hatred for the Girl inside faded too. When the Boy lost and regained his Mate, the hatred ended all together and something unknown began to form between the three Selves – Peace. A short time after his Mate returned to him, the Boy found and lost his Spirit Brother. (1) In his grief, the Boy (in the Girl's shape) summoned the Cat and the Three merged completely for a brief period of time with the Cat ascendant. Together, they managed to fight for and regain the Brother. Once the battle was won, the Cat retreated, but something new had occurred – Acceptance. Now, the same Acceptance had occurred with the Girl, and with the Acceptance something else was occurring – Sharing. The Sharing was far from complete, but it was significant – the shattered Soul was starting to heal. There were even times that the Soul was briefly whole, especially when the Soul was with Mate.

Last night, another milestone had occurred. Once the Cat had awaken, the Cat had opened its eyes and saw Sire there. Obviously, the Sire had been responsible for the Binding. The Cat demanded they kill Sire, but even in their prison, the Boy and Girl said "No". Yet, they were very angry, and decreed that punishment was deserved. The Boy and Girl then removed all other restrictions from the Cat. The Cat allowed the Spirits contained inside itself to punish Sire, finally giving the Spirits revenge after eight years. With that revenge, the Spirits were now at peace inside of the Cat, unifying it and further strengthening it.

That had happened before sunrise. Since then, the Cat had returned to Nerima, and tried to break the Binding on the Girl and the Boy. The Cat had weakened it, but the Binding was still strong and the Cat was tiring. The constant effort was becoming very painful. Both the Spirits and Soul Pieces needed rest, but the Cat was afraid to lose the Boy and Girl and didn't want to stop. If it stopped, the Binding might restore itself.

The Cat was aware of the Humans below. They had been milling about for some time now, but so far left it alone. The Cat hoped this would continue. Due to the Sharing, it could now understand many of their words, but still couldn't speak any of them, so the Cat could not tell them to stay away, and it didn't want to hurt any of them. Suddenly, the Cat heard its name (something else the Cat had learned through the Sharing) called by a familiar voice. The Cat ("Ranma") stopped fighting for a moment ("Come here, Ranma") and was relieved the Binding did not immediately intensify ("See what I have?").

The Cat looked down and saw one of its Fighting Partners below it. Healer was no good with strikes or kicks, but could use words very well. Healer was not as good at healing as Teacher, but not bad either. Healer held up a ball. The Cat looked puzzled at Healer until Healer gave the ball a small squeeze. A strong scent entered the Cat's nose and suddenly nothing was as important as getting that ball. Many of the Spirits were suddenly aware and wanted the ball too.

* * *

The judge watched Dr. Ando holding the large toy out to the girl stuck in the tree. There were four policemen standing with the doctor holding a large tarp to catch the girl in case she leaped. "Ranma? Why is he calling the girl 'Ranma'?" the judge thought. Suddenly the girl sat up and stared at the toy. The doctor tossed the ball a couple meters up and got out of the way as the girl leaped and dove straight at the toy. The policeman pulled the tarp taunt. The girl caught the toy using her hands and mouth, and then bounced off the tarp, somersaulting over everyone's heads. She landed on all fours and then crouched down shaking the ball in her mouth. No one moved for a minute or two – everyone just stood watching her.

"Now what do we do?" Officer Ueda asked.

"We wait for a few minutes and pray," Doctor Ando said. "But at least she's out of the tree."

"What's in the ball?" Officer Kokawa asked.

"The ball is just something I throw at her when she ticks me off," the doc said. "Usually she just catches it to annoy me further. I was hoping it would trigger a memory even now, and it did. I doped the ball with something to mellow her out just a little – nothing too harsh or anything that might knock her out. I'm afraid anything stronger might do damage to her in this state, and I am sort of fond of her."

"That was quite a jump she made over everyone's head," the judge commented.

"She's an acrobat, a gymnast, and a martial artist – a very good one," Ando said. "You should see what she can do in her right mind." The policemen around him stiffened for a second and then relaxed when they took apart what he had said. A few threw approving glances.

"Do you know the family very well?" the judge asked.

"Yes…" the doc answered with a little hesitation. "Keep in mind that I'm not suppose to divulge too much without a court order."

"I am the lead judge around here," Sanu pointed out.

"Yes, and that gets you a lot of leeway," Ando admitted. "But we do have lawful procedures to protect people's privacy."

"Well, maybe you could explain this to me..." the judge said. He took out a folder from a briefcase. Sanu saw the confusion in the policemen's eyes – they never saw Ryuu drop off the briefcase. He handed the forged document set to the doctor.

Doctor Ando looked over the file with a hard eye and seemed to be cursing under his breath about how morons and idiots should not be allowed to mate. He handed the folder back to the judge. "It seems that Ranko has a few fans in the Public Records Office. That file shouldn't exist."

"I'm sorry? It contains a birth record. Everyone should have a birth record," the judge prompted. "However, I agree that the document should be in a different format if it really was eighteen years old like this person obviously is.' He pointed at Ranko batting around the ball.

"Yes, but Ranko Tendo is an alias. The birth date is correct (or at least close enough), and Ranko's real mother is Nodoka Saotome, but the father is not Soun Tendo. Mr. Tendo is a foster father of sorts, one of two that I know of. Whoever created that document didn't follow the cover-story – she's suppose to be Mr. Tendo's niece, or at least niece by marriage."

"Who is this?" the judge demanded pointing at Ranko several meters away.

Ando considered the judge for a moment and seemed to make up his mind. He turned to Kokawa and Ueda: "Could you two please follow the judge and myself over to Ranko? If she makes a break for it, I will not be able to keep up. Keep in mind that you are not to divulge anything I say to the judge as Officers of the Law." He looked at the other policemen: "Could you please fall back a little? This is a private medical matter."

Ando motioned for the judge to follow him. They stopped a couple of meters away from Ranko. The doctor turned to the judge and asked: "Are you aware of what an intersex person is, Judge Sanu?"

"Intersex? You mean a hermaphrodite?" the judge asked.

"Hermaphrodite typically refers to physical characteristics only. Ranko's case is a bit more severe. She/he has an extreme form of intersex chimerism – enough so that she/he has two complete sets of functioning sex organs."

"Your joking!" Sanu burst out.

"No, I'm not, I'm afraid. Usually, this condition is caused by two young fraternal embryos that merge in the womb to become one fetus. Another possible causation is where a cell or group of cells in the early blastocyte mutate, but that usually leads to intersex mosaicism (however, not always). I'm not sure of the exact mechanism, but Ranko is an intersex person. His/her real name is Ranma Saotome. When she/he is dressed as a boy, everyone addresses him as 'Ranma'. When dressed as a girl as she is now, we address her as "Ranko," Ando told him.

"So, why the elaborate ruse?" Sanu pushed.

Ando shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know. A decision was made long before I arrived on the scene to allow the child to grow up without medical intervention. I do know that the female genitalia were not readily apparent at birth – hence the true name 'Ranma'. I guess they wanted the child to determine who he/she really was – Ranko is an identity that allows Ranma the freedom to see what being a woman is like. While I don't necessary agree with the decision, I must admit that it seems to be working. Lately, Ranma has been encouraging people to always address him/her as 'Ranma'. Given that Ranko could be characterized as an 'extreme tomboy' by people that know her, it looks like Ranma will choose to be primarily male and may take steps when he/she comes of age. I do know that Ranma has formed a more than friendly relationship with the youngest of Soun Tendo's daughters. From what I know of the daughter, I would say that Ranma has made his own decision to follow the male side of his personality."

Ando handed the file back to the judge. "It seems someone in the Records office decided to give Ranko a little more substance," he said to the judge. "I cannot say I really disapprove there even if it was shoddily done – we have all sorts busybodies in this town, and an official record would keep snoops out of Ranma's personal life."

Judge Sanu looked at the girl, who had stopped batting the ball and was crouching down with a slightly zoned expression on her face. He was having a hard time believing the story, but it seemed a little too preposterous not be true. The doctor was obviously an intelligent man and surely could have come up with a simpler lie. The judge could ask to see "hard" evidence, but didn't feel that was appropriate under the circumstance – the girl hadn't done anything wrong. Suddenly, a wince of pain appeared on the girl's face. The doctor also noticed it and looked concerned. "So, that pain isn't normal when she's stuck in this fit?" Sanu asked the doctor.

"No, it's not," the man replied. Ando slowly crouched down and approached the girl cautiously. "Hey," he called softly. "How are you feeling, Ranma?" He managed to get right next to the girl, when she suddenly reacted. The girl got up on all fours and threw a soft head-butt into the man's shoulder, rocking him back a little, but otherwise not moving or harming him. The doctor seemed surprised for a moment. One of the police officers snorted a little laugh. The doc's surprise faded to annoyance, and then softened into a smile after he gave his own little laugh. "All right you little pain. It's obvious you know who I am," he told the girl in a more normal manner of speech. "But, come on, I just want to see if you are hurt. Lie down for me please."

The girl threw a mischievous look at the doctor, but otherwise did as she was told. The doctor carefully probed her abdomen and her limbs. He then looked at her chest and neck. Finally, he probed her face and head. There was some bruising around the mouth that he couldn't make sense of. "Open up" he commanded. The girl looked rebellious for a moment until a spasm of pain appeared on her face. Her mouth popped open and snapped shut in reaction to the pain, but it was enough for Ando to get a look. "She's got bruising around her mouth. She was obviously in a fight with someone, but that seems to be the worst of it," he told the three onlookers. The girl rolled onto her stomach and cradled her head with her arms and hands in obvious pain. Again, the judge was shocked by how cat-like she seemed. Ando sat there rubbing her back and making some comforting noises. He seemed to be lost in thought.

"Shouldn't you get her to a hospital?" Sanu asked.

"I'd rather not," Ando answered. "Her psyche would be better served at a smaller place. Unfortunately, the power surges last night damaged my clinic and there's no one at the Tendo house where she and her mother stay. To be honest, I'm worried about head trauma. She's obviously in pain, there's bruising around the mouth, and she's cradling her head. Her pupils seemed normal, but that's not always a reliable indicator. I may not have any options here – I think she has to go in for observation. But I need to go with her, and not have Nerima General assume the case. Until Dr. Ono gets back tomorrow, I'm the best one to determine if her behavior is normal or not given her psychosis."

"The Court is assuming guardianship until her mother or foster father comes back – provided I can verify what you've told me," Sanu said. Ando just shrugged his shoulders. "I'll see to it that you are the attending physician then. Where's her birth father?"

"Estranged," Ando said distractedly. "And I hope it stays that way." At Sanu's questioning look, Ando went on: "I won't say her father's name in front of her. You can get it off the birth record, but he's a real bastard. I suspect severe child abuse, but I have no proof, only hearsay. He forced a separation from her mother for quite a while. The mother has only been reunited with her child relatively recently. He never took the whole intersex condition very well."

"What about the rest of the family?" the judged asked.

"Her mom is with the Tendo sisters away at an all-women spa retreat. Ranma's not eligible to go for obvious reasons, but urged them to go anyway. Mr. Tendo is at a business conference – it's not like Ranma can't normally take care of herself. I have people trying to raise everyone, but some are due back tomorrow anyway. As I said, my boss, Dr. Ono, is also due back tomorrow. He's good friends with Ranma."

"All right, let me make some phone calls," the judge said and walked away from them.

* * *

After the judge walked away, Ando took a phone out of his shirt pocket. It was on and had been running the entire time he dealt with Ranma. He put the phone to his mouth: "Did you get all that?" he spoke into the phone.

"You're a bloody genius, Ando. You didn't lie to the judge once," a voice told him.

"Hey, I like the little idiot too, but I'm not going to jail if this all blows up," Ando said. "You want to keep Nerima's secrets? That's on your head, not mine."

"So be it," Inspector Ojima said. "We will take care of things from here. See if you can make the shape-shifter well."

"I'll do my best," Ando said before he hung up. At another spasm of pain from the red-head in front of him, he began to rub her back again. "Hang in there, my friend. I'll try and find something to help at the hospital. And when Ono gets back, he's buying us both some very expensive sushi…"

* * *

Sanu called Ryuu on his cell phone. "What's up Boss?" Ryuu answered.

"I just a got a very strange story from the attending physician," Sanu told his henchman. "I need you to go find out everything you can on a Ranma Saotome. You probably cannot get the police file, because it is in use somewhere, but pull anything else you can, especially anything that can get us some identifying marks. Any more luck on Ranko Tendo?"

"No, Boss. Aside from the obvious forgery, she has no school records, no government ID, and no medical records. It's a safe bet Ranko Tendo is not a real person," Ryuu said.

"Yes and no – the physician said it's an alias for Ranma Saotome," Sanu told him. "He also gave me a story why the name Ranko is used. See what you can find out; I don't want to influence you one way or another."

"Consider it done, Boss," Ryuu said signing off.

* * *

Inspector Ojima hung up the phone after speaking to Doctor Ando. He knew that the man was a decent doctor, but he didn't know the man could be a decent human being as well. Still, the doc had stuck his neck out as far as he was going to. He would not lie to the judge, but that was all right. Ojima was going to make sure that wasn't necessary. He needed to call Nerima General and talk to the Chief of Staff there to make sure the proper records were in place. He also needed to create a file for Ranma and have some special legal guardians appointed – like Soun and Kasumi Tendo. Judge Kato owed Ojima a few favors.

Ojima picked up the report from Imia on the Ono Clinic. The Office Manager had been distracted and allowed Imia to check the room Ranma stayed in last night without protest. Imia had found pieces of a glass bottle and a few usable prints. The prints led back to Genma Saotome. Enough was enough. Whatever happened to Ranma Saotome was caused by Genma. Ojima rarely got involved with disputes among the Martial Artists, but he wish he knew about Ranma when the boy was five – Ranma should have been taken away from Genma back then. Unfortunately, Ojima never found a reason to lock up Genma since the pair's arrival in Nerima. Now, it was too late, and the boy was almost a man. But Ojima was going to get his "pound of flesh" anyway.

"Ito!" he called out.

"Yes, Inspector," the man returned.

"Put out an all-points-bulletin for Genma Saotome!"

"What for?" Officer Ito asked.

"Assault and violation of a restraining order. Add that the man is armed and dangerous and necessary force is authorized!" Ojima said, being very careful not to let the venom out.

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) The story was told in "Brothers".

* * *

A/N: Correction to the timeline on 2/25/14 - Ranma suffered the Cat Fist training when he was ten, not seven. Thank you to Compucles for catching that.


	8. The Circle Closes

Chapter 8: The Circle Closes

Toshio Kuno ordered his driver to get him to the airport as fast as possible. Tatewaki had to be stopped quickly. Three of the ninjas on his staff had been supplying the younger Kuno with information regarding what was going on back in Nerima. Tatewaki knew before Toshio did that Ranma Saotome was in custody. What the youngster didn't know was that Ranma was in **protective** custody. The young martial artist was ill due to something his idiot sire had done and the rest of the lad's family was out of town. Tatewaki thought Ranma was going to be locked away for life, so he was on his way to tell Akane and insist that they be married.

"She will finally kill him," Toshio thought. "If Ranma is missing and Akane thinks Tatewaki is responsible, it's all over. He's no match for her anymore; she's several orders of magnitude beyond him. I have to get my nephew back to Muroran before the police bring Akane back to Nerima."

Fortunately, things were moving slowly in Nerima and he had Sanu to thank for that (of all people). The busybody judge was (unknowingly) preventing the police from ordering a boat out to get Mrs. Saotome and Akane. Sasuke was still keeping tabs on the Saotome and the Tendos, so Toshio knew where everyone was. Everyone except Tatewaki that is…

Grimly, he reflected on the three ninja traitors and the orders he left regarding them. "People can be for me or against me," he thought. "My employees better be for me, but I tolerate divided loyalties – someone's got to have the families. I expect them to be declared though – I want to know what and when I can count on people. I even tolerate divided loyalties among my ninjas – I know Sasuke is fond of the kids and he's fond of the Tendos, and he's not the only one with favorites. But if you say you're with me and then work to undercut me, that's a whole other matter…"

His phone rang while he was reflecting. A glance told him who it was: "Speak to me, Sasuke. And please give me some good news…"

Sasuke responded: "I have mobilized all the Nerima ninjas. They are ready to waylay Master Tatewaki should he go home, approach Ranma, or approach Akane. One of Ranma's friends has left to get Akane and Nodoka via a private airplane – we know how they will return to Nerima, so we know exactly when and where to start tracking Akane. I am frustrating any other attempts to contact or reach the women that we cannot control, or at least monitor. If we can get our hands on Genma, we will, but he's not a priority right now."

"Good," Toshio responded. "While I'd like my money back in the right hands, I want Tatewaki returned to the Hokkaido estate as fast as possible. Anything else?"

"Yes, sir. The bug I placed in Soun Tendo phone became active a few hours ago," Sasuke told him.

"What?" Toshio asked with surprise. "I thought he was at that conference – no outside contact allowed."

"He is, sir. But he lent the phone to his daughter Kasumi," Sasuke answered.

"What?! Well out with it, man! Where is she?" Kuno demanded.

"She's on her way to the Muroran airport to hop on a puddle jumper to take her back to Nerima," Sasuke said. Kuno could hear the smile in his voice.

"Will I beat her home or not?" Toshio asked.

"It's a slow plane, sir," Sasuke told him. "You'll be hours ahead of her."

"Then call the airport and delay the flight. I'll take her on the jet and get her there faster. Call Judge Kato and make sure Kasumi is listed as a guardian of Ranma."

"It's already done, sir. Inspector Ojima has already twisted his arm and had Soun and Kasumi made guardians."

"What?" Kuno yelled in shock.

"Oh, he did one better than you, sir." Sasuke laughed. "Once Imia radioed him that Genma's print was on the potion bottle used on Ranma, Ojima also had the judge issue a restraining order and pre-date it to last week. Officially, Genma has violated the restraining order and assaulted Ranma. Ojima has also declared Genma armed and dangerous."

"Hah!" Kuno laughed amazed. "I never knew he had it in him. If Ojima ever found out he did me a favor, he'd have a coronary."

* * *

Kasumi moved quickly through the small airport as she asked about any flight going towards Nerima. Tomo had arranged for transport on a small airplane bound for an airport near Nerima, but the airplane had suddenly developed engine trouble, and would be delayed for six hours. Kasumi had been hoping to be home before that. Unfortunately, she wasn't having much luck. She had managed to sweet talk the airport manager into checking the filed flight plans, but none of them were passing close to Nerima. She had been told that if this wasn't the weekend, there would normally be a number of flight plans booked in that direction.

She ducked down a side hallway and whispered "Tomo!" With a pop, the young boy was back again. "What is going on?"

"Some human with a lot of power is in a hurry," Tomo told her. "He's eating up a lot of resources, delaying everything."

"Well, find out who he is! We may need to push him out of the way!" she told him hurriedly. "But check in with me before you do anything." With another pop, Tomo vanished again.

Kasumi left the hallway and stood in the main terminal trying to think. At this rate, she may have to get on the train/ferry tomorrow as originally planned, but she wasn't giving up yet. Suddenly, a voice rang out behind her. "Miss Tendo! Someone just filed a new flight plan!" Kasumi turned to see the airport manager running toward her. "I told him that you were on a canceled flight and were trying to get to Nerima. When I mentioned your name, he said he knew of you, and was willing to help if you hurried. He's also in a terrific rush!"

"Oh my. Thank you Mr. Endo! Please, let's go meet him," Kasumi responded. She followed Mr. Endo into a cordoned off section of the airport. Looking around, it was obviously a private waiting area. As they turned a corner, Kasumi was surprised to see a man who looked a lot like her old High School principal, but older and without the tanned skin. This man was also very sure of himself and did not suffer from the delusions Principal Kuno did. As she took in his appearance, the man noticed her and smiled. "Miss Tendo, I presume?" he asked. At her nod, he continued: "I am pleased to finally meet you. I am Toshio Kuno, also of Nerima."

"Um…found him," Tomo's voice sounded in her ears.

"This is so *not* a coincidence," Kasumi thought.

* * *

Hideo pulled the van out into the street again. At least this consultation had given him some new info. He had already figured out that the potion had used mandrake and ginseng for a base as well as about a half-dozen other ingredients. The big issue was the small silver flakes in the mixture – they were animal in nature and not plant based, so he was a little out of his league. They had to be what gave the potion its "charge" – none of the other ingredients would provide a unique characteristic to give the potion a purpose. It had been his last stop at the home for the curator of Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science that had started to unravel the mystery – the woman (a customer of Hideo) had identified the flakes as reptile scales – but couldn't tell him what the species was no matter how many references she checked.

"It's got to be a rare or a magical animal," he thought. "C'mon! Think! What sort of animal could be powerful enough to mess with a Jusenkyo…" Suddenly he pulled over to the side of the road and banged on the steering wheel. "Duh! Idiot! They are dragon scales. That's why she couldn't identify them. That's why none of the other practitioners could identify them – most modern magics don't mess with dragons – they are either protected or revered. I need an older practitioner which means…."

He grabbed the phone and dialed the dojo. Shizuka answered on the third ring. "What's up, love?"

"Can you tell Sergeant Imia that I'm on my way to the Cat Café? I need to see Cologne and I promised I keep him abreast of what I was up too," he told her.

"If that bitch is involved in this mess…" Shizuka started.

"Whoa!" Hideo told her with a sharp voice. "Slow down! I have no proof of that! The Amazons cannot profit from Ranma getting stuck as a girl or stuck in the Cat Fist! Neither would make him easier to control!"

"This could be one of their famous screw-ups," Shizuka returned just as sharply.

"Maybe, but let's get the facts first," he replied.

"So why do you want to see her?" his wife asked.

"I think the potion involved dragon scales – either ground up or from a young dragon. That's frowned upon in our circles, so I don't have a lot of info on it. I'm hoping Cologne will since Happosai is out of town," he answered.

"She may not want to answer you. We put the hurt on her restaurant for a while there," Shizuka said. (1)

"But we stopped when she began helping the town. Hopefully, that lesson is still in her head and she'll help us," Hideo responded.

"Optimist," Shizuka snorted.

"We'll see," he said.

* * *

"Sergeant Imia," Cologne said wearily. "I didn't have anything to do with what happened to young Ranma last night." Cologne sat in her kitchen grateful that this was the slow hour between lunch and dinner. Otherwise, things could have been messy – she didn't want to be involved in anymore town gossip. People were just starting to forgive and forget with Kasumi's prompting.

"Now, how can I be sure of that?" the Sergeant pressed.

"Because, I'm not dead," she said bluntly. "And neither is Shampoo nor Mousse. Ranma's had enough. If I attacked him last night, he wouldn't have held back. I'll admit Ranma is not really a killer, but you would find me in a hospital at the very least. I couldn't defend myself against the Cat Fist normally, and what I felt last night wasn't close to normal."

"Any idea what happen to him?" Imia asked.

Mousse walked in to the kitchen just then and answered: "Yeah, his idiot sire did something and ended up running for the hills with Ranma chasing him."

Cologne bonked him on the head for butting in. "You're suppose to be tending customers, Part-Timer!"

"Elder," he address her firmly. "Ranma's not a killer. Genma's still alive somewhere. There's no need to protect Ranma and we certainly don't have to protect Genma."

Cologne bonked him on the head again. "I have no interest in protecting Genma, idiot. I'm just hoping son-in - I mean Ranma didn't do anything irrevocable last night."

"Son-in-law?" Imia said while cocking an eyebrow.

"Don't read anything into it, Imia," she told the Sergeant. "Old habits die hard. Ranma's not my son-in-law and never will be. Besides, I doubt the village would let me drag him back now anyway. He's too dangerous. But he's still one of my students and I'm sort of fond of him. I have no interest in helping you put him away."

Imia sighed then, and sat down in an empty chair. "I'm not trying to put her away, Elder," he said. "I'm trying to get her back to us. She's still stuck in the Cat Fist."

"Ah hell," Cologne sighed. "Where is she?"

"She's at the hospital, surrounded by police. Dr. Ando figured out how to move her safely. Even in her current state, she won't touch a cop, so we have officers at the door, in the room, and on the floors above and below her. Once you add in the fact that she's in pain, and that Akane is not in the city right now, she doesn't really want to go anywhere anyway," Imia told her.

Cologne held her head for a moment, and then looked at Mousse. "All right, Part-Timer, tell him what you saw last night when I sent you to retrieve Shampoo," she said. "I'll go tend to the customers." With that, she got up, and left the two men alone.

"I already know Genma did something to Ranma last night. It had something to do with a bottle with Genma's fingerprints on it. Is there anything you can tell me, Mousse?" Imia asked.

"Not much," Mousse started. "Shampoo and Ukyo were at the Tendo house last night – or rather outside the house trying to get Ranma to talk to them. At some point, he left the house, probably to get away from them. I know he's pretty tight with Doctor Ono, so he probably went to the clinic to get some peace. Shampoo and Ukyo had no idea they were banging on an empty house until I arrived. I'm welcomed at the house now, so I have a general feel for the place. I could tell it was empty. It took me a couple of minutes to convince them he was gone. Shampoo wanted to find him immediately, but I told her Cologne had ordered her back to the house. That's when we heard the explosion over in the direction of the clinic."

"Give me what your five senses told you first – save the Other stuff for off-the-record," Imia requested.

Mousse nodded. "With the loud noise, there was the sound of someone screaming – a male voice in terror. The voice was coming our way, so I urged the women to hide behind the wall of a property neighboring the Tendo Dojo. I hid myself in a tree that allowed me to see the street. Genma Saotome came running up the street in a great panic. While he was running, a great wind started blowing hard and the street lights started to dim, throwing everything into shadow. Genma ran up to the gates of the Tendo Dojo, but they were shut and he could not open them. He banged on them fiercely, but they stayed closed. At that point, Ukyo and Shampoo moved to watch him from the top of the wall as well. We kept low so the wind didn't blow us away."

"Did you three close the gates of the property when you left?" Imia asked.

"No, Sergeant. Am I still limited to my five senses?" Mousse asked. At the Sergeant's nod, Mousse continued: "The wind must have blown the gates closed. It was fierce enough to do that. Then there was an explosion from somewhere in front of us and the street lights failed all together. I heard Genma scream in agony and yell 'Get it off! Get it off! Please!' over and over again, but I couldn't see anything. Finally, the screaming became whimpering and the street light came back on. Genma was leaning against the dojo gates, but he was covered in deep scratches and small bites. His clothes were a bit shredded too. Then there was a growling sound from all around us – Genma screamed and ran up the street out of sight."

"Did you actually see what attacked Genma?" Imia asked.

"No, I didn't, Sergeant. All I can tell you was a human doesn't inflict damage like that, even if he is deranged. And the growling sound didn't come from a human throat. The damage to Genma didn't match anything I've seen from Ranma's Cat Fist – all the marks were way too small. Genma looked like a small wildcat attacked him, but that didn't match the growl I heard."

Imia closed his book with a snap. "O.K. lad, add in the missing pieces now."

Mousse nodded and spoke: "Whatever attacked Genma last night, had a lot of sympathetic magic surrounding it. The folks around here have a word – 'Kami'." At the Sergeant's nod, Mousse continued: "Well the Kami were out in force surrounding Ranma. It was like he was the eye of a hurricane. Ranma never touched Genma, but the Kami did, and that's what tore into Genma. I've never felt Power like that before – it was like Nerima itself was tired of Genma. I know the Tendos certainly were."

"But the Tendos weren't home last night," Imia said.

"The Tendo property has been in the family a long time, hasn't it?" Mousse asked.

"Yes," Imia answered slowly. "But, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Despite the fact I cannot see in this world well, I can see into the Next one very well, Sergeant. The Tendo property was crawling with ghosts. They are the ones who closed the gate on Genma and held it fast against him. There must have been six generations of Ancestors there last night, not including the Unborn I saw. Whatever Genma did ripped reality last night – the magic he used must have been very strong, because it backfired in a nasty way."

* * *

Cologne was cleaning up in the dining room while Mousse talked to the Sergeant. It was 3:30PM and she only had one set of customers left when Hideo Jouda ran into the restaurant. He was a very tall man with a handsome, but weathered face – a little too weathered for a man who supposedly spent all his time inside his shop. What surprised Cologne was the aura of magic that surrounded him. She suspected that there had to be mages among the local populace, but they had always hidden well from her, and she certainly never suspected that this man was among them. "His wife is probably gifted as well – like often calls to like," Cologne thought. "That's why they are involved with the Tendos and Ranma."

"He's here for a consultation," she continued to herself. "That's why he's showing his power. Normally, I'd give him a hard time in return for the trouble they gave me by driving the customers away, but I can understand their point of view after the attack on Kasumi – I would have done the same thing. Besides, there are witnesses right now, and I'm trying to not make enemies. And this is probably about Ranma..."

He scanned the restaurant and spied Cologne. Before he could say anything, she spoke sternly: "Sit!" she commanded (She was determined to have a little fun). His eyes tightened a little, but he did as he was told. "Show me!" she barked out as she sat down at the table with him. Wordlessly, he opened a sealed leather organizer that obviously served as his spell kit. He took out an index card that had two pieces of tape pressed to it. There were small silver flakes trapped in the tape. Cologne picked up the card and looked carefully at the flakes, then dropped the card with a hiss of revulsion. "Give!" she commanded again. Wordlessly, he pushed a folded piece of paper toward her. She was starting to see twitches of a smile playing about the corners of his mouth. "He obviously has a more developed sense of humor than his wife," she thought. She opened the paper and read the list of components, noting that he had ordered them in importance.

"Wait…" she said, not as harshly. She got up and pogo'ed upstairs to her room. Cologne unlocked a small chest, fished around, and then took out a set of scrolls referencing dragons. She went back downstairs to where Jouda was sitting and sat down without a word. After a reading through several scrolls, she spoke up: "Well, the good news is he's probably not stuck permanently."

"I'm listening," Hideo said.

"The dragon potions are extremely dangerous to use – enough so that my tribe hasn't made use of them in over five hundred years. This particular potion enslaves a young dragon's spirit. Killing a young dragon would normally grant the slayer a curse, but the brewer captured the curse and modified it to reinforce an existing curse; that's what the mandrake and ginseng was for."

"What if the victim didn't already have a curse?" Hideo asked. Imia had walked out of the kitchen and saw the two of them.

"Then the potion would fail and the person pouring the potion would gain the young dragon's death curse," Cologne told him. "The thing is – Ranma has two curses: the Cat Fist and the Jusenkyo magic. The potion would try to modify both curses, but again, it would fail – eventually. Dragon potions are like scrolls – they follow the exact letter of the intent since the dragon's spirit is caught in the potion. The potion was made to only modify one curse, and it cannot choose which curse."

"But is the Cat Fist really a curse?" Imia asked approaching them. "I thought it was a psychosis?"

"There are spirits trapped inside Ranma that take control when the psychosis occurs," Cologne said. "As long as it is involuntary, it counts as a magical curse. I think if Ranma could snap out of it, he would have." She shrugged her shoulders. "One day, he may master it and be able to summon it at will without having to force a panic attack – until that day, it stands as a curse. Same with the Jusenkyo magic."

"So, what happens now?" Hideo asked.

"Normally, I'd say that in a month or two, Ranma would shake the potion and the person who used the potion on him would receive the backlash," Cologne answered.

"Normally?" Imia asked.

"Ranma's Cat Fist is extreme – he was subjected to the banned technique at least four times that I know of. Jusenkyo curses are some of the most powerful curses I know. Between both of them and the dragon potion, this is a clash of the titans. It's not going to go a month – I doubt it will go more than a couple of weeks. From what Mousse told me, Genma may be already experiencing the backlash. But, Ranma's in for a world of hurt – you'll need to keep giving him as many pain killers and sedatives as his system will accept. Unfortunately, his body will reject the stronger pain killers, and the Cat Fist will fight the stronger sedatives. You'll just have to make do with the milder ones. The good news is you can probably double up safely – Ranma's built like a tank in either form."

Imia looked at Cologne and said: "I'll get the info to Ando, but I need to ask you something off-the-record." Cologne nodded. "Do you know what became of Genma Saotome?" he asked. "I want to find him quickly and get Ranma in the clear of any possible murder charges. I don't know what this new judge is going to do next."

"Ranma chased him into northern Nerima. I doubt very much Ranma killed Genma, so I'd check the hospitals in that direction. I doubt Genma was able to heal himself once Ranma was done with him, so Genma's definitely in a hospital by now."

* * *

Akane sat in the hot spring pretending to listen to Sayuri and Nabiki banter, but her mind was far away. The feeling of something wrong was growing. She felt Ranma was in trouble, but she had no justification for the instinct. She wasn't the only one though – Nodoka was definitely out-of-sorts too, and even Nabiki was off her game (Sayuri was scoring way too many points). Yuka was quiet, but then Akane's friend was always the quiet one. Suddenly, Akane decided she needed to take a walk and excused herself abruptly.

"Hold on Akane, I'll go with you," Yuka said also getting up. Akane never saw Nabiki put a hand on Nodoka's shoulder and stop the elder from joining them.

Once the two young women were out of sight, Nabiki turned to Nodoka. "Leave them be for a bit," the short-haired young woman said. "Maybe Yuka can help Akane sort out what's up. Yuka can read people very well."

"That's Yuka," Sayuri agreed. "I don't think we are going to finish this retreat though.

"You don't think this is some sort of separation anxiety?" Nodoka asked the two.

"You're a lousy liar, Auntie," Nabiki told her. "You know something's up, just like we do. A few times now I had to stop myself from walking into the Main Office and having them page a boat to come get us. Since we don't have any cell phone service, I cannot come up with a good reason."

"I can fake being ill," Sayuri suggested.

"Not yet," Nabiki said. "There's nothing to prove this isn't a separation anxiety from Akane that's just affected us as well. Akane is able to project her emotions quite well."

"Yeah, but usually she is projecting anger or something else sharp. She's never been this vague before and I have always been able to sort out my emotions from her," Sayuri countered.

"I agree," Nodoka said. "But Nabiki is right. We have no justification for demanding a boat come and get us. I've had the Main Office radio their Base and had the Base call the dojo. No one's answered, but I did have them leave a message for Ranma to call the Base and leave an "All clear" message. If we don't hear from Ranma by tomorrow morning, we may need to take you up on your acting skills, Sayuri."

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) The ward's boycott of the Cat Café started in Chapter 2 of "Brothers" and continued through "To Serve and Protect in Nerima". Cologne's actions in the latter story (and Cologne allowing Mousse to associated freely with Ranma and the Tendos) convinced the ward (with Kasumi's prompting) that Cologne was not at odds with Nerima.

* * *

A/N: Next up: Ukyo's Decision


	9. Ukyo's Decision

Chapter 9: Ukyo's Decision

Ukyo sat sitting in her restaurant watching as Konatsu served the Saturday afternoon crowd. The police officer had just left as quietly as she had arrived for which Ukyo was grateful. The officer had put on a great act of asking questions with a casual attitude, never alerting the customers to how serious the discussion was. The chef wanted to shout and scream though – she had screwed up again. She had chased Ranma out of his sanctuary and right into Genma's hands. Now her fiancé was in the hospital surrounded by police officers who were trying to break Ranma free of his/her curses.

Her fiancé? Gods, there was a joke. Ranma didn't love her. She had gone there last night to just try and talk to him one-on-one without Akane around. She had a rough idea that she would apologize to him and see if she could get his friendship back. Maybe if she could re-establish that, she could see where things would go from there. Maybe they would just stay friends, maybe not. Unfortunately, Shampoo was also there trying to get her "Airen" to admit his love for her. There was something about the purple-haired bitch that always pushed Ukyo over the edge. Any time Shampoo was about, Ukyo brain stopped working and she did the stupidest things. Last night, it had been insisting that Ranma loved her, not Shampoo. The two has argued the whole time while rapping on the door.

Then Ranma had gotten fed up and yelled out from inside: "GO TO HELL THE TWO OF YOU! I'M NOT YOUR FIANCE AND I'M NOT YOUR HUSBAND! I NEVER WILL BE! I DON'T LOVE EITHER OF YOU – HELL, I DON'T EVEN LIKE YOU ANYMORE!"

The outburst had stopped the women cold. Ranma went on at force ten: "LEAVE ME ALONE! A STOLEN YATTA DOESN'T MAKE ME YOURS! YOU KISSING ME DOESN'T MAKE ME YOURS! GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? THEN TAKE IT UP WITH GENMA OR YOUR TRIBAL COUNCIL! NEITHER ONE IS MY PROBLEM!"

"I BELONG TO MYSELF! I'LL DECIDE WHAT CONTRACTS ARE VALID! BUT WHEN I DO MARRY, IT WILL BE FOR LOVE! NO OTHER REASON! THAT LEAVES YOU TWO OUT! NOW SHOVE THE $%!#! OFF!"

The two women had broken out in tears, causing Ranma to scream in frustration. To Ukyo's utter shame, she and Shampoo redoubled their efforts to get Ranma to take back his words, to say that he loved them, to come out and talk to them.

"When did I become so low?" Ukyo thought to herself. "He loves Akane. I've been told that over and over again for the last three months. Ryoga told me that. Toshio Kuno told me that. Cologne told me that. Konatsu told me that. Mousse told me that."

With misery, she recalled what Mousse had said when she demanded why Ranma hadn't told her himself. "Because he lost Akane once, and he'll do anything to keep her safe now that he has her back – including training her even though it means hitting her which literally hurts him far more than it hurts her," the Chinese man told her bluntly as they stood in the middle of the marketplace. "He's afraid you'll attack Akane if he tells you that he loves her. But why *should* he tell you? He's made his feelings about you known: he doesn't want to marry you, he doesn't love you. His relationship with Akane is none of your business." There was so much there that hurt her: Ranma's love for Akane, Ranma's fear for Akane, Ranma's lack of love for her, Ranma's lack of trust in her, Akane's death.

Akane's death: Akane had died trying to save Ranma. Her onetime friend had died, but come back to Ranma. Ryoga told her first, and Mousse agreed with Ryoga's versions of events. When Ukyo had confronted Shampoo about it, Shampoo had said that she didn't know what the men were talking about, but Shampoo wouldn't look Ukyo in the eye. Normally, Shampoo would have no trouble lying to Ukyo, but not this time, so Ukyo knew where the truth lay.

Akane's death: What would Ranma have been like if Akane died? Ryoga had later said that the light had gone out of Ranma's eyes, leaving a shell. Mousse had told her that Ranma never would have come back to Japan. Hell, Mousse was pretty sure that if they had to bury Akane, they would have had to bury Ranma as well. Ranma couldn't see his life anymore without the blue-black haired girl. Ranma had left Ukyo behind twice now, but he couldn't leave Akane behind once.

Akane's death: Ukyo wondered why she wasn't as upset about Ranma's death. Ryoga had said that Ranma had died trying to save Akane. (1) Why was she dwelling on Akane's reported death? Both of them were back now. The crisis was over – long over. Did she think that Ranma was fundamentally unkillable? Did she actually care for Akane more than Ranma? But that was impossible! She loved Ranma! She dreamed of them running her restaurant together.

Her brain stopped and restarted. "My restaurant. Not 'our' restaurant," she thought to herself. She looked around at her livelihood. Actually, make that her life. "This is not Ranma's life. It's my dream, not his. Either he has to give up his life, or I have to give up mine. Trying to share our world would not work. I'd be working overtime in my restaurant, but he'd be working overtime in his dojo – he would make a point of not putting his time in here. He likes to eat, not cook. He'd worry about his students, I'd worry about my customers."

Ukyo pushed at that a little more. "Most married couples don't work together," she thought. "Why can't Ranma and I have separate lives – I mean separate careers?" But she knew her mental slip had given her away. A restaurant like hers was typically a family business. What would happen when Ranma decided a training trip was needed? How would she feel about him just taking off for a week and she couldn't just pick up and leave? Immediately, Ukyo felt resentment at Ranma's freedom and lack of concern about her restaurant. "Oh gods," she said to herself. "I'm not even married to him and I'm already resentful. Yes, couples do have separate careers, but the careers are not their way-of-life. Ranma's obsessed with Anything Goes. And I guess I'm obsessed with my business." She sighed as she admitted that to herself.

Yet, Ukyo's brain still couldn't leave the idea of Akane's death alone. She wanted to start keening in grief, but she was in the middle of her restaurant. Thank god there were no new orders. What was up with that? Akane was not dead! "Why is this bothering me so much?" Ukyo questioned herself. "She's my rival; my competition; my friend…"

"Oh crap…" she groaned. That was it. Akane had been her first real female friend – her first real friend besides Ranma – even better than Ranma because Akane knew who (and what) Ukyo really was. Ukyo had grown-up without any real friends. Ranma had taken off and left her to the scorn of the people around her. Ukyo had grown up alone with her desire for vengeance, keeping everyone at arm's length. Then Ukyo had come to Nerima and had her showdown with Ranma. Afterwards, she had tried to get to know Akane, so she could get a handle on the competition, and that had been Ukyo's downfall. Akane could be a royal bitch, but she could also be one of the nicest people, and she was loyal to her friends. Even though they had been rivals, Akane had been willing to be her friend and get other girls in the school to treat Ukyo well, even though her school mates supported Ranma's and Akane's relationship (even if the couple didn't always). Ukyo had a friend now – someone who accepted her as she was; someone she could talk into skipping school together; someone she could just *talk* to and who didn't judge her. "And I paid her back by trying to blow up her wedding. Nice one, Ukyo," the cook thought.

Akane's death: Ukyo wanted to scream in frustration – the thought would not leave her alone. Ukyo knew she had a Power within her that went beyond what normal people could do. She knew Akane also had the Power. Between the Power and the fact that she was young, Ukyo never considered the fact that she was mortal at the end of the day. More importantly, she never considered that her friends were mortal, including Akane. Akane almost left for good, leaving so much between them unresolved…

Akane's Death: ***ENOUGH!***

"Enough," she thought pulling herself together. "I can't go on this way. I've become a shell of myself. Once I was defiant, supposedly spurning Love itself. I said I lived for Revenge, but that was a lie – I wanted to be more than someone full of Hate. I wanted to Love, so when Ranma offered a way out of the Hate, I grabbed at it not really understanding that he offered the Love of Friendship (which was all he was capable of), not True Love. Since then, I've been chasing shadows and ignoring what was truly offered."

"I'm better than this," she continued. "I don't need Ranma to define who I am. And I don't have to turn back to Hate. I've made things miserable enough for Ranma and Akane – that can be my Revenge. I can consider my 'Honor' restored, such as it is. Now, it's over. Now I can be their friend, if they will let me. Even if they won't let me be their friend, at the very least, I can stop getting in their way. I can find my own way forward. I can go back to being strong. I can be MYSELF, not one of Ranma's fiancées."

She got up and looked at her restaurant. Things were slowing down as the time between lunch and dinner had arrived. She went over to her 'waitress'. "Konatsu?" she said to get his attention.

"Yes, Mistress," he answered with a smile.

"I need to step out for an hour or so. Do you think you'll be all right by yourself?" she asked.

The cross-dresser nodded. "Yes. Where are you off to?"

"I need to go to the hospital, and say that I'm sorry to Ranma. I need to say some other things too," she told him.

Konatsu looked at Ukyo with concern. "Mistress, I'm not sure that is wise. Ranma may not even understand you now."

"Honestly, it doesn't matter if he can, Sugar. I'll repeat it later if necessary, but knowing that he has one less problem in life may make things easier on him. I know it will make things easier for me. I have to start while I'm thinking clearly," she told him.

"They may not even let you in to see him," the ninja told her gently. "You are not a relation."

She nearly laughed at her poor servant. He was always trying to spare her pain, even if it was necessary. Instead, she gently raised her hand to his cheek. "Again, it doesn't matter, Konatsu," she answered. "I just have to try. It's a matter of taking the first step."

The ninja looked at her eyes and decided that she would be all right, so he nodded and kissed her raised hand. "As you wish, Mistress," he replied.

* * *

When Ukyo arrived at Nerima General, things started off badly. Shampoo was at the front desk demanding to see Ranma. "I'm his wife!" she was yelling at a police officer. A receptionist looked on annoyed.

The officer was firm. "I know exactly who you are, Ms. Xian Pu. I've lived here a long time, and I know your history. You're not his wife, Ranma is not married, and you are not on the list Dr. Ando has set up. That's that."

Ukyo walked up to the two. "I suppose I'm not on the list either, Officer?" she asked.

The man shook his head firmly. "No, Ms. Kuonji. Neither of you are on the list. Mr. Saotome is under protective custody by order of Judge Sanu. He will not receive any visitors except those on the list."

Ukyo just sighed and shook her head. Shampoo got angry though and let out a stream of Mandarin Chinese. Suddenly, a man answered from behind the two women. "The 'bloody' judge is behind you Ms. Xian Pu, and I understand Chinese very well. Do understand that any real threats to my person will be frowned upon. You are in Japan, and you will answer to Japanese Law. You are not in China, although even there your threats would land you in jail. Do you understand me?" the judge said harshly.

Shampoo went stock still and winced. She turned to face the judge with an artfully sorrowful face. "I very sorry Judge. I just want to see husband." The purple-haired girl seemed to be concentrating very hard on her speech.

The judge looked at the police officer, who shook his head. "Ranma's not married, Judge Sanu. There's not a single legal piece of paper filed in either China or Japan that says he is," the officer said. "Ms. Xian Pu is from one of the unrecognized indigenous tribes in China. The women there think if they kiss a man, they are married, even if the man doesn't return the kiss."

"I'm not sure I can take any more strangeness today," the judge said. "Please tell me you are joking." Shampoo started to frown.

"Sorry, sir," the officer replied. "But, it's the truth. Even though the kiss happened on Japanese soil, she insists they are married. Ranma insists just as hard they are not, and he's right. I guarantee Mister Bashful has never consummated the 'marriage' either. He hasn't even kissed her – she is always forcing herself on him."

"That's not true!" Shampoo hissed. "Ranma loves Shampoo and we are married!"

Ukyo noticed that several police officers had appeared in the surrounding area. She saw them taking out tasers. Slowly, she backed up with her hands held in plain sight, grateful that she left her battle spatula at the restaurant. Meanwhile, the officer smirked at Shampoo. "That's bullshit and you know it. You and your old biddy keep saying Amazon laws trump all others, but you know different – otherwise you would have just moved in with Ranma by force. You know full well that both people have to recognize a marriage for it to be binding; otherwise you wouldn't have been trying to drag Ranma to the altar or trying to trick him into signing a marriage certificate." Shampoo started shaking and her lips started to curl up.

"Bring it on, honey," the officer told her in almost a whisper. "Give us the excuse."

"Officer!" Judge Sanu barked out. Shampoo remembered herself and backed down.

"Sorry Judge, I forgot myself," the officer answered, also backing down. "As for the claim that he loves her, there were several witnesses last night to a shouting match at the Tendo Dojo where Ranma was screaming at the top of his lungs that he did not love either Ms. Xian Pu or Ms. Kuonji." The officer indicated Ukyo with his chin.

Ukyo winced and looked down. "This is true. Ranma doesn't love either of us," she admitted.

"And who exactly are you in relationship to Ranma?" the judge asked.

"I was his fiancée," Ukyo told him.

"One of two!" Shampoo hissed venomously.

Sanu looked dumbfounded. "Excuse me," he said with great disbelief. "Are we talking about the same patient upstairs who was first introduced to me as Ranko Tendo? Then I was told she is sort of a he and is really named Ranma Saotome? The one with two fairly good sized swells on his/her chest?"

Ukyo winced again. "Yes, that would be Ranma."

* * *

Judge Sanu stared at Ms. Kuonji for a minute, not believing what he was hearing. The young woman kept her eyes downcast and seemed to be blushing, as if acknowledging the ridiculousness of the situation. The purple-haired girl stared with hate-filled eyes at Kuonji. Finally, the judge's phone went off, startling him out of his disbelief. Isao looked at the screen and saw it was Ryuu. He addressed the officer: "Neither of them gets to see the patient. If someone isn't on Ando's list, that's the end of it."

"Absolutely, Judge Sanu," the officer agreed.

"I have to take this phone call, I'll be back in a minute," the judge said. Isao strolled a little distance away and answered the phone: "What's up Ryuu?"

"I get first crack at the whiskey bottle tonight," his henchman said. "What the hell is an 'intersex' person?"

"Where did you see that?" the judge asked.

"It's on Ranma's medical charts. Instead of 'M' or 'F', it's marked 'X'. I had to ask someone what that meant, and I still don't understand. The medical results make even less sense. Ranma's marked down as having started menstruation, but she's also marked down as having a testicular exam completed. I'm definitely looking a mammogram, but her charts also show a prostate check. What the hell? Those two are usually done on people starting in their late 30's, aren't they? "

"Depends," Sanu answered. "A doctor may order them earlier if there's a history in the family or if there is anything unusual about the patient. Also, they are starting the tests younger these days anyway."

"O.K. But if a person needs a mammogram, they usually don't need a prostate check. And I'm sure menstruation and a testicular exam are mutually exclusive too," Ryuu said with frustration. "Is this girl some type of hermaphrodite?"

The judge sighed. "Yes," he answered. "Apparently she/he is."

Ryuu made a snorting sound. "Better buy a new bottle on the way home, Boss."

"Or two," Sanu commented. "Did you have any luck with finger prints? Although it just got less likely we will need them…"

"Yeah. Ranma Saotome has a set of prints on file. So does his father, Genma Saotome. His mother, Nodoka Saotome, does not. I pulled both. I also have a copy of the birth certificate which has his footprints. But, the birth certificate definitely says male. Are you sure this girl is Ranma Saotome?"

"You've got the medical records. And I just talked to a woman claiming to be his/her wife and another claiming to be his/her fiancée – they didn't seem surprised when I described the patient."

"SAY WHAT?" Ryuu yelled.

The judge couldn't help but grin; he hadn't heard shock from the assassin in ages. "Oh, it gets better," Sanu told Ryuu. "There's another fiancée out there somewhere…and it sounds like they all know about each other."

Ryuu was letting out a stream of curses. Finally, he stopped and said: "You know, Isao, all my life I've had trouble meeting women, and I've also been a bit envious of the guys who could attract them. But if a true hermaphrodite can get three women willing to marry him/her, I just have to assume it's me and admit I know nothing about what women want."

"You're preaching to the choir, Ryuu. For what it's worth, after listening to them, I don't think Ranma has any interest in these two."

"So, if these two have shown up, where's the third?" Ryuu asked.

"There's an Akane Tendo on Ando's list of allowed visitors and Ando didn't say she's a guardian. Ando mentioned earlier that Ranma was friendly with the youngest Tendo daughter. She may be the second fiancée. Since she's out-of-town right now, that's why she is not here," Sanu answered.

"How many people are on the list?" Ryuu asked.

"Five, including Doctor Ono," Sanu told him. "There's Kasumi Tendo, Nodoka Saotome, Akane Tendo, and Soun Tendo.

"And there were five people the police were trying to get to the hospital when this mess started. We know Ono is the Doc…" Ryuu prompted.

"The Town Cryer must be Soun Tendo – I know he's on the Town Council," Sanu added.

"Which leaves the Smile, the Swordwoman, and the Little Missy for the three women," Ryuu finished.

"Makes sense. I'll lay money on the fact that the Little Missy is Akane Tendo. On the other side of the coin, I'm pretty sure that the Bastard is Genma Saotome. Ando actually called him by that name come to think about it," Sanu said. Then a thought struck the judge. "Ah crap," he said out loud.

"What's up, Boss?"

"The two women who were arguing in front of that park gate last week. They both worked in the restaurant business," Sanu told his henchman.

"So," Ryuu quizzed.

"They are both here at the hospital – one claiming to be a fiancée and the other claiming to be the wife," Sanu explained.

"So, one of them may be the Cook. Talk to you later Boss," Ryuu signed off.

Sanu said goodbye and turned to see Ukyo talking to the officer.

* * *

Footnotes:

(1) Ryoga told Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi in Chapter 10 of "The Date – The Flip-Side".

* * *

3/4/14: Removed the word "transvestite" from the story - some people tell me that it is a slur. While I do not know the truth of this, I'm not interested in debating it. A quick search on Google gives me mixed results including some regarding fetishes, which does not apply to my interpretation of the character of Konatsu. Since the word has definitions/implications beyond "cross-dresser", it does not fit in here, so I have deleted it. My apologies to anyone offended by my ignorance.


	10. Ukyo Faces the Judge

Chapter 10: Ukyo Faces the Judge

The two young women faced the officer as the judge walked away. The cop looked impassively back at them. "You might as well go home, ladies," he told them. "Ranma's surrounded by cops and all of them know you two are not to go near him. It's time to grow up – he is trying to, like it or not."

"Ranma belongs to me!" Shampoo hissed.

The officer growled at Shampoo, "I think your visa about to expire, little lady. There's nothing here for you. Ranma is a citizen of Japan and a free person under our laws. Even by the laws of China, Ranma is a free person, bound to no one." The officer grinned maliciously and went on: "And before you say that the laws of some backwards little village trump all others, I wonder what would happen if someone was to whisper in the ears of the Chinese Ambassador about a small village declaring its independence from China."

Ukyo started to panic. Shampoo looked like she was going to kill the officer when the man held up his radio – he was holding the transmit button. "I just sent that idea out to two hundred cops," he told her quietly. "Think you can kill us all, before one of us makes the call? Think your village will survive if you start an international incident? The Chinese will bomb your village out of existence claiming it never existed. Then they will claim you are nothing but a deranged homeless mad woman. Can you live with yourself knowing your actions led to the total destruction of your precious people?" He grinned at her again. "It's your move, little lady."

Shampoo clenched her jaw and spun away from the officer. Then she stormed out of the hospital lobby, not trusting herself to say a word. Ukyo slumped against the wall in relief. The police officer watched her go calmly. He turned to Ukyo and said: "You know, I've wanted to do that for nearly two years now. I think it was actually worth the wait."

Ukyo looked at him in disbelief. "Are you out of your bloody mind?" she asked him in a slightly hysterical voice. "She could have killed you!"

He shrugged. "Every day I come to work and put myself on the line. It's the same for any cop on the planet." He made a show of looking at his radio. "Oh look," he said. "I never even turned on the radio. Tsk. Tsk. How careless of me."

Ukyo eyes became real wide and her mouth fell open. Then she snapped her mouth shut into a tight line and mimed strangling the officer from where she was slumped against the wall. "Hey," the officer said. "I couldn't take the chance someone would actually carry through with the idea." Then he became thoughtful. "Still," he added. "It's probably worth writing down somewhere in case she does come back for me."

Ukyo shook her head as she rolled her eyes. Then she said: "I don't think you really have to worry about her. If she does do it, I'll pass the word." Ukyo pushed herself off the wall. "Look, I understand I can't see Ranma, but could you give Ranma a message for me or give it to Doctor Ando to pass on, when the time is right?"

"Depends on the message, Ms. Kounji," he answered.

Ukyo took a deep breath. "Fine. Tell Ranma I'm sorry for last night. I should have left him alone before now. I accept his decision – we are done. I'll settle the lawsuit with his mother and the Tendos. But I want Akane and him back. I'm willing to apologize. I'll even stand up for them at their wedding, but I want them back as my friends. When they are ready that is," she said.

The policeman looked surprised, and then a little thoughtful. "Admittedly, I don't mind passing that along to Ando, but I want you to do something as well." Ukyo just nodded. "Soon, the judge will want to speak to you. He may even track you down to do it." Ukyo nodded again. "I don't want you to lie to him, but if you could avoid certain mystical references, it would be appreciated. He knows Ranma's a hermaphrodite, but he doesn't know about the shape change."

"Hey, I understand. I don't want anyone poking or prodding me either," Ukyo said with a slight smile.

"Just so we are on the same page – we all have secrets we want to keep," he added quietly. She just nodded. The two made small talk for a few minutes before Ukyo prepared to leave.

Just as she was saying goodbye to the officer, the judge returned. "Excuse me, but it was Ms. Kounji wasn't it?" he asked.

Ukyo gave a polite bow to him, "Yes, your Honor. Just so you know, I'm giving up and going home. The officer has agreed to give Dr. Ando a message for me, and the contents of the message are not secret. I won't trouble you again."

"That's fine Ms. Kounji, but if you have a few minutes, I'd really like to ask you a few questions. I think you'll give me better answers than Ms. Xian Pu," the judge said.

Ukyo was careful not to look at the police officer. "I can do this," she thought. "My mind is working better than it has for a while, and better to do it now before I start mooning over Ranma again." Out loud, she said. "All right, but keep in mind that I have a restaurant to run and I need to get back for the dinner rush. My assistant has gotten a lot better, but I don't really want to leave him alone." She went on: "And you're buying me a soda – I'm dying of thirst."

The judge chuckled at that and motioned for her to follow him. Ukyo waved at the policeman and followed the judge over to the vending machines. He bought her a cola and they settled into two chairs across a small table in the hospital lobby. The judge immediately began asking her questions: "You own a restaurant in town?"

"Yes," Ukyo said – she had to be a little careful here. Strictly speaking, she was not of legal age and had acquired the capital for Ucchan's using some less than truthful documentation. "It's a small Okonomiyaki restaurant not far from one of the precinct stations."

"And you run it yourself?" he asked.

"I have an assistant, Konatsu – he's learning the trade slowly but surely," she answered brightly, bringing her perky personality to the forefront.

"And the other woman, Ms. Xian Pu was it? She owns a competing restaurant?" the judge prompted.

"Oh no, her grandmother owns the restaurant. The old woman cooks and runs the place. Shampoo is a waitress there," Ukyo said a little smugly. "And they don't make Okonomiyaki. It's a Chinese restaurant, so we are competitors only in that we compete for empty stomachs," she responded. She was confused by the satisfied look on the judge's face though.

"Forgive me," the judge said with a raised eyebrow. "But you also competed for Ranma? Or should I say Ranko?"

"If you know about him being a hermaphrodite, then you should call him Ranma. He's always leaned toward the Yang side of his personality. Ranko was a relatively recent development – it allowed him to learn about being female, but when push comes to shove, he's male. Besides, as a female, he was either the most tomboyish girl you ever saw or the most over-the-top woman you ever met." She rolled her eyes at this. "He has a tendency to over-act."

The judge smirked at this and then sobered. "You're dodging the question," he said gently.

Ukyo winced. "Yeah, sorry. Look, it's still painful for me. I only recently faced facts and I still have some grieving to do. It's funny though – the one who won his heart was the last one I thought he would have picked. Sometimes I didn't even consider her competition. Many people didn't consider her part of the Fiancée Brigade."

"The what?"

"People around here tend to use nicknames when they talk of others. The Fiancée Brigade was me, Shampoo (or Xian Pu I should say – but I mispronounce it to tick her off), and Kodochi Kuno. Others would join in and fade out, but we were the three who tried the hardest. None of us won though," she said with a sigh.

"He fell in love with Akane Tendo, didn't he?" the judge asked gently.

Ukyo wiped away a tear and then straightened up. "Yes, 'his Tomboy' as he now calls her – it use to be 'the uncute Tomboy', but now she's 'his'. The young woman who's a lousy cook, can't maintain a house, and is nearly as rough and tumble as he is. But she was always his friend first, even when she was furious with him. And as much as I hate to admit it, while she's not a classic beauty, she is 'cute' and she cleans up rather well." She sighed again. "Look, can we change the subject? I may be growing up, but I'm not there yet."

The judge recognized the raw pain the young lady was suppressing and decided not to rub any more salt in her wounds. He cleared his throat and said: "Look, as you mentioned, the people around here tend to use nicknames, especially for the younger set. Could you help me decode some of them? I think you are 'the Cook'…"

The young lady perked up at that. "Really?" she said. "I rather like that," she added happily.

The judge nearly laughed at the change in the young woman, but suppressed it. "I think 'the Little Missy' is Akane Tendo…" He had to stop as Ukyo burst out laughing.

"Oh gods," she laughed. "She'll kill them. It fits well, but she'll kill them. Don't call her that to her face." Ukyo laughed again. "It fits really, really well."

"Who is 'the Smile'?" Sanu asked.

"That's easy – Kasumi Tendo. She walks around with a perpetually serene smile. Always. It has to be a mask given all the craziness around her, but I've never seen it break yet," Ukyo answered.

"Then 'the Swordwoman' is Ranma's mother, Nodoka Saotome," Sanu concluded.

Ukyo winced again at that. "Yes, she used to always carry a sword wherever she went."

"Why?" the judge asked.

Ukyo sighed. "Look, Ranma's mother used to be two cards shy of a full deck. I'd love to say it was all Genma's fault, but she was broken before he ever got to her. Lately though, her behavior has changed. The sword has vanished, she seems happier, she no longer constantly prattles on about 'honor', and she certainly more of a mother to Ranma. I'm not sure, but I think she got help. I don't know for certain, but it would explain the recent changes. I do know everyone (and I mean 'everyone') is a lot more relaxed around her. Several people have actual started to make her acquaintance now and find her a nice person."

"All right,' said the judge. "I'll keep that in mind. I assume then that 'the Bastard' is Genma Saotome?"

Ukyo's eyes became very cold. "That's too kind a word for him. Everything that is wrong with Ranma or in Ranma's life is Genma's fault. I'd love to say he's an evil man, but I think he's actually too stupid to do evil any justice. I hope what I've heard about Ranma throwing the old man out of his life is true – I hope it with every fiber of my being. Ranma (and Nodoka) would be so much better without him."

If he had to judge someone solely by the look in Ukyo's eyes, Judge Sanu would swear Genma was the devil. He wanted to ask further, but felt that he'd never get an unbiased answer from the young woman about Genma. Instead he asked, "Who's 'the Spy'?"

Ukyo's eyes warmed up (not hard to do from Absolute Zero). "Another easy one – Nabiki Tendo, the middle Tendo sister."

"Middle sister? Who's the elder one?" he asked.

"The birth order is Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane," Ukyo replied.

"Oh, I thought Kasumi was Soun Tendo's wife," the judge said with a little confusion.

"No, but I could see how you'd think that if you haven't met the family. Kasumi is nearly 22 years old now – her birthday is next month. Beyond a doubt she is the most responsible person in that household. Even Nodoka follows her lead. Despite appearing as the meekest one, she's the family Matriarch. No one will cross her, not even her father – not unless they want bread and water for the next three months. She's actually engaged to Doctor Tofu Ono."

"Tofu?" the judge said in surprise. An uneasy feeling started in the pit of his stomach. "It couldn't be him!" he thought. "There's no way a 22 year old girl is going to marry an eighty year old man!"

Ukyo misunderstood what the judge was thinking. "Doctor Tofu isn't quite old enough to be her father. He looks rather good for a man in his late thirties/early forties," she said firmly. "I'm not quite sure how old he is, but he acts young enough – maybe a little too young sometimes."

"What? Oh, sorry. I meant no disrespect for the Doctor. I haven't even met him yet, so I have no real opinions of the man," Sanu said.

"He's a very good doctor," Ukyo stated.

"Again, no disrespect. Who is 'the Pig'?"

"That's got to be Ryoga Hibiki. Don't let the name fool you. He's no longer the animal he used to be. He and Ranma are foster brothers. They use to fight tooth and nail, but now they are friends. Ryoga's grown up quite a bit. He's engaged to a very nice girl named Akari and they live about an hour or so north of Nerima. He's turned out well enough that I'm sort of sorry he's engaged now. I might have had a chance of snagging him if I hadn't been so fixated on Ranma," she shrugged.

"And the Ghoul?" Sanu asked.

"That's Shampoo's grandmother, Cologne. She says she's well over a hundred years old and she looks the part. While she's not exactly a wicked old witch, she's not a kindly old witch either. Be on your guard and only believe half what she tells you." Ukyo glanced at her watch. "Look, I really need to get back…Do you have any questions that won't wait?"

"Just one more, Ms. Kounji." The judge pointed up, obviously indicating the patient rooms. "Himself?"

"Yes," she half-smiled. "The High Lord of Chaos. Occasionally called Herself."

"Why is he so well-known around here?" the judge had to ask.

"Well, it's not like true hermaphrodites are a dime a dozen," Ukyo laughed.

"Even so…" the judge prompted.

"You have to meet Ranma when he's well to understand," she said. "Every move about him screams 'Look at me!' – even when he's just walking to school (or rather running – he's always late). Beyond that, although he often acts quiet and withdrawn, he still notices people around him, especially those in trouble. Honestly, he is incapable of walking away from someone who needs help. Got a problem? – Go see Ranma. Everyone in town knows that. Things will often get out of hand quickly, but in the end, it all works out. Ranma may take some damage from it, but if the person he's trying to help wins, he's all right with that. It's just who he is. And any kid around will tell you, if you're bored, go find Ranma, he'll find something for you to do. He's often responsible for impromptu soccer matches, or volleyball, or even hide-and-seek."

"I see," said the judge.

"Now, I really do have to go," she said. "Stop by for a snack if you have any more questions."

The judge stood up as she did. "I just may do that," he said.

Sanu watched the young woman leave. "Nice enough person," he thought. "But I think she can be pushy if things don't go her way, and there's a definite temper hiding there. She's an 'alpha female', much like the purple-haired girl. When two alphas get together, either mutual respect forms or intense competition does. Guess I don't have to ask what happened between her and Ms. Xian Pu. Akane Tendo also sounds like an alpha too, but they may have hit it off better – Ms. Kounji actually said some complimentary things about Ms. Tendo."

The judge pulled out his phone and called Ryuu again.

* * *

Ryu was sitting in the hospital records room on the third floor in front of a computer. He was dressed as an inspector from the Board of Health. He had just pulled everything he could find on Akane Tendo, and was filing it away in his briefcase when his phone when off. "Ryuu," he answered.

"I just had a very profitable conversation with the Cook," Isao told him without any greeting.

"I'm all ears, Boss" Ryuu answered. He listened as Isao ran over everything.

"Not bad, Boss," he finally said when Isao ran down. "You didn't ask about the Book though."

"Ah, hell. I knew I forgot something," Isao replied.

"Ah, you still did well. Where do you want to go from here? Do we keep watching over Ranma?" Ryuu asked. "We may have hit bottom with regards to the mystery around him."

"Possibly," Isao admitted. "But he's still a ward of the court and he's still my responsibility. I need to find out about his mother and father – there's something wrong there. He also has a foster brother, which means that the Court has intervened before. So there has to be a file somewhere around here."

"Judge Kato has Ranma's file. One of the clerks told me when I said I was looking for it for you," Ryuu supplied.

"Fine. I'll go after Judge Kato and get the file," Isao said.

"Anything you want me to do?" Ryuu asked.

"Yes, my friend – check the finger prints you got against the person everyone says is Ranma/Ranko. Let's nail down a positive ID once and for all. Then pull everything you can on Doctor Tofu Ono," Isao said.

"Tofu Ono?" Ryuu quizzed. "How old?" Meanwhile Ryuu pulled a copy of Tofu's records from his briefcase with a smirk.

"He's too young to be the Charlatan from what Ms. Kuonji said," Isao said. "But he may be the son or grandson. I don't like surprises and I don't want the Charlatan popping up unannounced."

"It's been nearly fifteen years, Boss. He's probably retired – he was a bit older than you after all," Ryuu pushed back while he was studying Tofu's picture.

"The Ono's are a small but powerful family, and they are very tight with each other. I want to know how many degrees of separation there are between the Doctor and the Charlatan," Isao answered.

"All right, Boss. I'll get to it after I check on Ranma," Ryuu promised. Isao thanked him and hung up.

Ryuu read through the file again. There was no doubt that this Tofu was related to the older Tofu. They came from the same branch of the family, and the Doctor had probably been named in honor of the elder. The two looked awfully similar allowing for the age difference. He was certain the Charlatan was about to enter their lives again. The thought gave him a slightly manic grin.

Judge Isao Sanu was Ryuu's best friend and Ryuu was well aware that the judge considered Ryuu as his best friend. Ryuu was also aware that he often played Watson to Isao's Sherlock, although Ryu considered himself closer to the judge's level than the mythical Watson had been to Sherlock's. Still, Ryuu was proud of the fact. However, Isao was always a little too sure of himself, and Ryuu loved seeing the rug pulled out from under him (so long as Isao took no real damage) – he wanted the judge to appreciate his humanity a little more. The Charlatan, who had once told Ryuu his real name was Tofu Ono, had been absolutely gifted at doing this and Ryuu knew that the judge was still trying to figure a rational explanation for some of the things the Charlatan seemed to pull off, despite repeated defeats. Isao was so sure there was an answer for everything somewhere – he was incapable of believing anything else (or of Belief in general).

Ryuu wasn't so sure. He had seen many things in his life that defied explanation and they didn't necessarily involve the Charlatan. And there was something about the Charlatan that intrigued Ryuu. The Charlatan always seemed to have the answers and you ignored him at your peril. The man had no birth certificate or any public records of any type except a government number; there was nothing behind the number. There was nothing in the press about him either. You never found him; he found you, usually by appearing as a street magician or doing a charity show and then singling you out. He'd give you a few leading words or a push in the right direction and then vanish into the street again. A few times, he showed up to pull either Ryuu or Isao out of a bad situation, and then vanish around a corner again (something that drove Isao absolutely mental), and they weren't the only ones he had saved…

Any time the Yakuza had tried to learn more about the Charlatan through normal investigative techniques, they always ran into dead ends. Trying to work through the Ono family led nowhere – none of the family would speak about the Charlatan other than to say he was one of them. Threatening the Ono family caused memory loss, especially to the ones doing the threatening. When one of those threatening people had been a major crime boss who had reverted in memory to 5 years old, the Yakuza immediately backed off any further intimidation techniques. Eventually, a red circle was drawn around the family – do not touch.

Now, Ryuu and Isao were going to cross paths with the Ono family again in the strange little ward of Nerima. Ryuu could feel the Charlatan lurking in the shadows. Maybe he was the real reason Sanu had been brought here in the first place, maybe not. Either way, Ryuu was looking forward to the encounter; he loved a good mystery. "This time, I'll be watching for you old man, and I'll get the answers. They may not do me any good, but I'll get them anyway," he promised.

* * *

Next: Kasumi's and Toshio Conversation

* * *

A/N: I added a few comments about the word "Airen" to my profile. Keep in mind, what a character says may or may not be what they believe, and what a character believes may or may not be what the author believes. This doesn't apply only to my stories...


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